U.S. crude stocks fell amid strong exports while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 640,000 barrels to 423.4 million barrels in the week ended September 11, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 342,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
“Given the demand that is well known here, and that we are able to maintain inventory levels, it makes the report slightly bearish,” said John Kilduff at Again Capital in New York.
Oil prices extended losses following the report.. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $105.52, down $3.23 at 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down $3.51 a barrel, at $102.32.
“Crude oil inventories fell less than expected, but the total numbers remain very tight thanks to strong exports. Today’s numbers give some pause to the energy rally but do little to ease bigger concerns about a supply crunch,” said David Russell, an analyst at TradeStation.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.18 million barrels per day, the EIA said, while exports rose by 1.41 million bpd to 4.83 million bpd.
Refinery crude runs fell by 256,000 barrels per day last week, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 1 percentage point in the week to 96.8%.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 794,000 barrels in the week to 207.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 107.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 71,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 1.94 million bpd during the week to 21.26 million bpd, driven largely by a rise in propane demand.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Chizu Nomiyama )