By Dan Molinski
U.S. inventories of crude oil fell more than expected and gasoline stockpiles dropped to their lowest in nine months despite weak domestic demand, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.
Benchmark U.S. oil prices that were lower before the mixed report was released held on to those declines afterward. The Nymex front-month crude contract for October delivery was recently down 1.3% at $90.46 a barrel.
Crude-oil stockpiles fell by 3.3 million barrels, to 418.3 million barrels, and are still about 6% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would fall by just 1.2 million barrels from the prior week.
Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for U.S. stocks, decreased by 523,000 barrels from the previous week, to 25.3 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.
U.S. crude-oil production rose by 100,000 barrels a day, to 12.1 million barrels a day, according to the EIA.
Gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.2 million barrels to 214.5 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for inventories to decrease by 1.1 million barrels from the previous week.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 112,000 barrels, to 111.7 million barrels, and are now about 23% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts were forecasting distillates inventories would fall by 900,000 barrels from the previous week.
The refining capacity utilization rate fell by a larger-than-expected 1.1 percentage points from the previous week, to 92.7%. Analysts were forecasting just a 0.3 percentage-point decline.
U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Aug. 26:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -3.3 -1.2 +0.1 -1.1
Forecast: -1.2 -1.1 -0.9 -0.3
Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-31-22 1109ET
