U.S. crude oil inventories fell while gasoline and distillate stockpiles rose last week on robust refining activity, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 391,000 barrels to 424.1 million barrels in the week ended September 4, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.55 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 684,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Oil futures rose following the report. Global Brent futures were trading at $107.03 a barrel, up $5.82, at 12:38 p.m. ET (1638 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $5.68 to $101.73 a barrel.
“Incentivized by margins, refinery runs continue to show extreme strength, resulting in product builds. Meanwhile, brawny imports combined with subdued exports have kept the crude inventory draw in check,” said Matt Smith, an analyst with ship tracker Kpler.
Net U.S. crude imports rose by 1.12 million bpd to 3.41 million bpd, while exports fell by 1.1 million bpd to 3.4 million bpd. Imports from Nigeria were at their highest level in over a year.
Refinery crude runs rose by 90,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates were down by 0.2 percentage points to 97.8%.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.27 million barrels in the week to 206.9 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.37 million-barrel draw.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by 1.36 million bpd to 19.31 million bpd, mainly due to lower propane consumption.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.09 million barrels in the week to 106.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 720,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
“Even with recent small builds in product inventories in EIA reports, oil product inventory levels are way too low,” said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests.
The average diesel price rose to record levels last week as renewed hostilities between the Iran and U.S. and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries continued to squeeze supply and drive up costs.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams and Chizu Nomiyama )