On Tuesday, the industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) said that last week, US crude oil stocks nosedived while the gasoline inventories rose.
In the week ended October 30, crude oil inventories slumped by 8 million barrels to around 487 million barrels. This reading exceeded analysts’ expectations for a build of 890,000 barrels.
At the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub, crude stockpiles jumped by 981,000 barrels.
Refinery crude runs rose by 244,000 bpd.
Gasoline stockpiles climbed by 2.5 million barrels, compared to the estimate for an 871,000 barrels draw.
Inventories of distillate fuel plunged by 577,000 barrels, in contrast with the prediction of a contraction by 1.7 million barrels.
Last week, the US posted an increase in crude imports by 164,000 bpd.
