On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that the country’s crude stocks unexpectedly fell last week albeit the increase in output.
In the week ended September 11, crude oil inventories posted the lowest level since April after falling down by 4.4 million barrels to 496 million barrels. Analysts in a poll conducted by Reuters foresaw a 1.3 million barrel increase.
The crude stocks reading was unexpected as crude output last week rose for the second week in a row by 900,000 bpd to 10.9 million bpd.
Meanwhile, the true concern is in regards to distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil and diesel. Inventories jumped by 2.5 million barrels in the period, to 179.3 million barrels. Analysts only estimated a 600,000 barrel rise. The data is raising eyebrows as truck demand had been a bright spot last week.
Reacting to the readings, US crude futures lost its gain, with gasoline and diesel futures also pulled back. By 11.00 EDT (15.00 GMT), WTI crude futures traded up by USD1.29/barrel to USD39.58/barrel, after hitting a session high of USD39.7/barrel earlier.
The country’s gasoline inventories dropped by 400,000 barrels to 231.5 million barrels, beyond analysts’ expectation for a 160,000 barrel fall.
Crude stock at the Cushing delivery hub, Oklahoma for WTI slipped by 74,000 barrels. Refinery crude runs climbed by 709,000 bpd, while the refinery utilization rates increased by 4%. The US net crude imports edged down by 66,000 bpd.
