US crude oil inventories rose last week, with USGC stocks hitting a record high, driven by higher imports especially from Mexico, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed. Meanwhile, US gasoline stocks saw their steepest decline since before the pandemic in March.
According to the data, US oil stocks rose by 5.7 million barrels in the week ended July 3, beating analysts’ estimates of a 3.1 million-barrel increase. In the USGC, crude inventories hit a record 309 million barrels. EIA said the US received the highest volume of Mexican crude oil since February 2012. Total inventories remained 3% lower than an all-time high of 540.7 million barrels recorded on June 19.
Net US oil imports increased last week by 2.13 million bpd to 5.01 million bpd, their highest since August 2019. USGC commercial crude imports rose 1.8 million bpd to 3.2 million bpd, the highest since June 2018, EIA data showed.
Gasoline inventories dropped by 4.8 million barrels, compared to analysts’ forecasts for a slight decline. Distillate stocks, which includes heating oil and jet fuel, increased by 3.1 million barrels to about 177.3 million barrels, their highest level since 1983, EIA data showed.
