By Anthony Harrup


U.S. crude oil stocks rose more than expected last week as refineries lowered their capacity use and the country exported less crude, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 5.8 million barrels to 457.3 million barrels in the week ended April 5, and were about 2% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said.

Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would rise by 800,000 barrels.

Oil in the SPR increased by 595,000 barrels to 364.2 million barrels, the EIA said. Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, was down by 170,000 barrels at 33 million barrels.

The EIA said U.S. crude oil production was steady last week at 13.1 million barrels a day, while imports fell by 183,000 barrels a day to 6.4 million barrels a day and crude exports dropped by 1.3 million barrels a day to 2.7 million barrels a day.

Refinery capacity use decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 88.3%, compared with expectations of a half percentage-point increase in the Journal survey.

The drop in refinery runs is likely because of maintenance season lasting longer than expected, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president at BOK Financial. "Demand remains strong for fuel, and I think the refineries are going to have to gear up a little bit."

Gasoline inventories increased by 715,000 barrels to 228.5 million barrels, and were about 3% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand was 8.6 million barrels a day, down by 624,000 barrels a day from the previous week.

In its Short Term Energy Outlook Tuesday, the EIA lowered its forecast for gasoline stocks at the end of the second quarter by almost 7 million barrels to 220 million barrels.

"Our outlook for gasoline inventories has gradually decreased since the beginning of 2024 as lower refinery production and higher net exports (exports minus imports) of gasoline have contributed to stronger-than-expected inventory draws so far this year," the EIA said. The agency predicted "tight market conditions for gasoline during the summer."

Distillate fuel stocks rose last week by 1.7 million barrels to 117.7 million barrels and were 6% below the five-year average, the EIA said.

Gasoline and distillate stocks were forecast to decline by 1.4 million barrels and 600,000 barrels, respectively. 


 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended April 5: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates         Refinery Use 
EIA data:           5.8           0.7            1.7                 -0.3 
Forecast:           0.8          -1.4           -0.6                  0.5

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-10-24 1201ET