U.S. Crude Oil Stocks Fall by 5.5 Million Barrels in Week Ended Dec. 29, More Than Double Analysts' Estimate
05 January 2024 - 3:56AM
Dow Jones News
By Anthony Harrup
U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week,
while stocks of gasoline and distillate fuels saw large increases,
according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration.
Commercial crude-oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve fell by 5.5 million barrels to 431.1 million barrels in the
week ended Dec. 29, and were about 2% 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 fall by 2.7
million barrels.
Storage in the SPR rose by 1.1 million barrels to 354.4 million
barrels, the EIA said.
Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, increased
by 706,000 barrels to 34.7 million barrels as refineries increased
their capacity use to 93.5% from 93.3% the week before.
Expectations were for refinery runs to slip by a fifth of a
percentage point.
Crude futures gave up opening gains and were lower on Thursday.
The Nymex crude contract for February was down 1.3% at $71.77 a
barrel and international benchmark Brent for March delivery was
down 1.3% at $77.22 a barrel.
Gasoline stockpiles rose by 10.9 million barrels to 237 million
barrels, against expectations of a 400,000-barrel build in the
Journal survey. Gasoline inventories were slightly above the
five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said.
Distillate stocks, mostly diesel fuel, increased by 10.1 million
barrels to 125.9 million barrels and were 6% below the five-year
average. Expectations were for a distillate stock build of 400,000
barrels.
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Dec. 15:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -5.5 10.9 10.1 0.2
Forecast: -2.7 0.4 0.4 -0.2
Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of
refinery use, which is in percentage points.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 04, 2024 11:41 ET (16:41 GMT)
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