US commercial crude oil inventories surged to a three-year high last week, although an uptick demand from refineries slowed down the storage build. Data from the EIA showed total US crude stocks rose by to 527.63 million barrels in the week ended April 24, representing a 8.99 million barrel build, which was 1 million smaller than analysts estimates.
Stocks in Cushing, the delivery hub of the NYMEX crude contract, rose by 3.64 million barrels, or 6% week-on-week to 63.38 million barrels, the highest since May 2017. An industry survey showed that Cushing tanks are now 81% full. Meanwhile, inventories in the US Gulf Coast surged 7.12 million barrels to 280.04 million barrels, near their all-time high set in March 2017.
US gasoline stocks fell 3.7 million barrels to 259.57 million barrels, driven by increasing driving activity. Meanwhile, Distillate stock extended an increase last week, rising by5.09 million barrels to 141.97 million barrels, 4% higher than the five year average.
US oil production increased by about 100,000 bpd to 12.1 million bpd. US crude output has fallen by 1 million bpd from its record high set in March 2020. At the same time, refinery crude demand firmed last week, with utilization rates rising by 2 percentage points to 69.9%. Net crude intake surged for the first time in four weeks by 305,000 bpd to 12.76 million bpd. Meanwhile, US oil exports rose by 410,000 bpd at 3.3 million bpd over the same period.
