By Anthony Harrup
U.S. crude oil inventories increased more than expected last week as production held at a record level and imports rose, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Commercial crude oil stockpiles excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 5.5 million barrels to 426 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 18 and were about 4% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said.
Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would rise by 800,000 barrels.
The EIA estimated U.S. crude production at 13.5 million barrels a day, unchanged from the previous week. Crude imports increased by 902,000 barrels a day to 6.4 million barrels a day, while exports were little changed at 4.1 million barrels a day.
Oil held in the SPR rose by 760,000 barrels to 384.6 million barrels. Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 346,000 barrels to 24.7 million barrels as refineries stepped up capacity use.
U.S. refineries ran at 89.5% of capacity, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous week. Refinery runs were expected to have slipped by 0.1 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.
Gasoline stocks increased by 878,000 barrels to 213.6 million barrels, versus expectations of a 1.3 million-barrel decline. Stocks were about 3% below the five-year average. Gasoline demand was up by 218,000 barrels a day at 8.8 million barrels a day.
Distillate fuel inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels to 113.8 million barrels, and were 9% below the five-year average. Distillate stocks were expected to fall by 1.6 million barrels.
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Oct. 18:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -5.5 0.9 -1.1 1.8
Forecast: 0.8 -1.3 -1.6 -0.1
Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-23-24 1107ET
