EIA: U.S. Crude Dips 6.8M Bbl W-o-W; Fuel Stocks Down

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) — U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell for the second consecutive week during the week ended October 24, with gasoline and distillate fuel oil stocks declining as well, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday (10/29).

Commercial crude stocks decreased by 6.8 million bbl to 416 million bbl, following last week’s 1 million bbl drop. Inventories are now 9.5 million bbl, or 2.2%, below levels last year.

Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for NYMEX West Texas Intermediate futures, rose by 1.4 million bbl to 22.6 million bbl, marking the first build in five weeks.

Distillate fuel oil inventories declined by 3.4 million bbl to 112.2 million bbl, after posting a 1.4 million bbl draw the prior week. Stocks are now 700,000 bbl above the same period last year, with most of the draw occurring in low-sulfur grades.

Total motor gasoline inventories fell by 6 million bbl to 210.7 million bbl, following a 2.1-million bbl decline the prior week. Blending components accounted for most of the decrease, dropping by 5.5 million bbl to 195.5 million bbl, while conventional gasoline edged up by 500,000 bbl to 15.2 million bbl.

Refinery utilization stood at 88.6% of capacity, unchanged from the prior week and just below 89.5% last year. Crude runs averaged 15.73 million bpd, a drop of 511,000 bpd week-on-week.

Crude exports averaged 4.361 million bpd, up 158.000 bpd from the previous week, while crude imports fell by 867,000 bpd to 5.051 million bpd.

Total products supplied over the last four weeks averaged 21.281 million bpd, up 1.267 million from the same period a year ago. Gasoline demand averaged 8.924 million bpd last week, down by 2.6% year-on-year, while distillate demand averaged 3.58 million bpd, up by 7.8% year-on-year.