U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a third consecutive week while gasoline and distillate stocks saw increases, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 640,000 barrels to 423.4 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11 and were 1% above the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. The withdrawal was smaller than the 1.4 million barrel decline seen in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.
Oil stored in the SPR fell by 403,000 barrels to 285 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, were down by 342,000 barrels at 21.5 million barrels.
The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.9 million barrels a day, practically unchanged from the previous week. Crude oil imports rose by 234,000 barrels a day to 7.1 million barrels a day, and exports rose by 1.4 million barrels a day to 4.8 million barrels a day.
Refineries ran at 96.8% of capacity, down from 97.8% the week before, with crude input to refineries falling by 256,000 barrels a day to 17.3 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have fallen by 0.6 of a percentage point.
Gasoline inventories increased by 794,000 barrels to 207.7 million barrels, and were 5% below the five-year average, the EIA said, while gasoline demand rose by 247,000 barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have decreased by 800,000 barrels.
Distillate fuel stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels to 107.9 million barrels and were 13% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were seen unchanged in the Journal survey.
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Sept. 11:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -0.6 0.8 1.6 -1.0
Forecast: -1.4 -0.8 unch -0.6
Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.