U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell sharply last week amid strong demand from the refining sector and higher exports, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels to 424.5 million barrels in the week ended August 28, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 80,000 barrels in the week. U.S. exports rose by 691,000 bpd to 4.5 million bpd, while net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 79,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
Oil prices were up slightly following the report. Global Brent crude futures were up 68 cents to $95.33 a barrel at 11:01 a.m. ET (1501 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading at $90.57 a barrel, up 35 cents.
“Refiners are running full out still so that helped with the crude demand in the country and then exports were also strong,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital.
Refinery crude runs rose by 103,000 bpd in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates were up by 0.6 percentage points to 98%, its highest level since August 2018.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 205.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel draw.
“Gasoline inventories continue to draw, propelling retail prices higher – averaging above $4 a gallon every day in August for the first time ever, according to AAA – a pre-cursor to a Labor Day record high price at the pump this weekend,” said Matt Smith, an analyst with Kpler.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 0.8 million barrels in the week to 104.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.3 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed. On the East Coast, distillate stocks fell to a record low.
Product supplied, a proxy for demand fell last week by 273,000 bpd to 20.68 million bpd.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Georgina McCartney in Houston; editing by Barbara Lewis and Nick Zieminski)