US crude output hits record high, oil stockpiles fall, EIA says
Rewrites throughout, adds analysts comments throughout
By Georgina McCartney and Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) -U.S. crude oil production hit a record high last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday, while crude, gasoline and distillate inventories fell.
Crude inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels to 420.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 108,000 barrels in the week.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 and Brent crude futures LCOc1 extended gains after the surprise inventory draw.
Crudeproduction rose by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week to a record 13.5 million bpd, up from its previous peak of 13.4 million bpd first hit two months ago.
“The record oil production is a continuing trend of increased efficiencies and onshore drilling, as well as the startup of some Gulf of Mexico projects. It will add to supply around the world and continue to pressure price,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell to a seven-month low last week, dropping by 1.04 million bpd to 5.5 million bpd, and weekly crude exports rose by 329,000 bpd to 4.12 million bpd.
“Lower net crude imports and recovering refinery demand post hurricanes supported the crude draw, while solid implied demand ensured larger draws for refined products,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
A series of hurricanes since September hit refinery operations along the Gulf Coast, with the latest, Hurricane Milton , cutting a destructive path across Florida last week.
Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 165,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 1 percentage point in the week, to 87.7%.
Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 2.2 million barrels in the week to 212.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel draw.
U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 reversed losses after the data.
The four-week moving average for gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, was 9 million bpd in the week, up from 8.5 million bpd this time last year.
Implied gasoline demand fell on the week, however, by 1.0 million bpd to 8.6 million bpd, likely due to hurricanes, analysts said.
“Weekly gasoline demand numbers fell substantially, that probably was due to the lack of supplies in Florida, and that was likely storm related demand because there was a big pop in demand before and a big drop after,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group.
Florida is the third-largest gasoline consumer in the U.S. There are no refineries in the state, so it depends on shipments from elsewhere by land or water.
Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week to 115 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
U.S. heating oil futures HOc1 extended their gains after the data.
Reporting by Georgina McCartney and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston
Editing by Marguerita Choy
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