EIA: Crude Stocks Up 400K Bbl on Week, Fuels Build

DAVENPORT, FL (DTN) U.S. commercial crude oil inventories posted a modest increase last week, while gasoline and distillate fuel oil stocks continued to build, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Monday (12/29) in data delayed by the Christmas holiday.

Commercial crude stocks rose by 400,000 bbl to 424.8 million bbl during the week ended December 19, following a 1.3 million barrel decrease the prior week, the EIA said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

With the latest weekly increase, U.S. crude inventories stood 8 million bbl, or 1.9%, above levels from a year earlier, the report showed.

In line with the overall increase, stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for NYMEX West Texas Intermediate futures, climbed by 700,000 bbl to 21.6 million bbl during the week. In the prior week, Cushing balances had declined by 700,000 bbl.

Distillate fuel oil inventories rose by 200,000 bbl to 118.7 million bbl, extending the build seen a week earlier. Distillate stocks stood 2.2 million bbl higher than the same period last year, supported by gains across ultra low sulfur and higher sulfur categories.

Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.9 million bbl to 228.5 million bbl during the reported week, adding to the prior week’s build of 4.8 million barrels. Blending components rose by 2.6 million bbl to 214 million bbl, accounting for most of the increase, while conventional gasoline stocks edged up by 300,000 bbl to 14.5 million bbl.

Refinery utilization averaged 94.6% of operable capacity, down slightly from 94.8% the prior week. Crude oil inputs to refineries averaged 16.78 million bpd, compared with 16.99 million bpd a week earlier.

Crude oil exports averaged 3.62 million bpd, down by about 1.05 million bpd from the previous week, while crude imports fell by 440,000 bpd to 6.09 million bpd.

Total products supplied over the last four weeks averaged 20.31 million bpd, up by 7.5% from the same period a year earlier. Gasoline demand averaged 8.9 million bpd, down by 0.7% from a year earlier, while distillate demand averaged 4.16 million bpd, up by 2.3% from the same period last year.