U.S. Crude Oil Stocks Fall by 2 Million Barrels in Week Ended March 15

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week as refineries continued to increase their capacity use, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude-oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 2 million barrels to 445 million barrels in the week ended March 15, and were about 3% 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 decrease by 1.2 million barrels.

Stocks of gasoline fell, while distillate fuels inventories increased from the previous week.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended March 15: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates         Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -2.0          -3.3            0.6                  1.0 
Forecast:          -1.2          -2.1           -1.2                  0.8 
 

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.

Write to Anthony Harrup at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-20-24 1056ET