EIA: U.S. crude stocks increase by most in a year after storm hit refining, exports
- Crude inventories rose by 8.5 MMbbl, exceeding expectations
- S. crude production increased by 500,000 bpd
- Refinery utilization dropped due to winter storm
U.S. crude stocks rose last week as refining and export activity slowed during a winter storm last month, while domestic output started to recover from the freeze, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 8.5 MMbbl, the largest increase in a year, to 428.8 MMbbl in the week ended February 6, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 793,000-bbl rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.1 MMbbl, the EIA said.
Brent and U.S. crude futures and heating oil futures pared gains after the data showed a larger-than-expected crude build.
U.S. output ‘back with a vengeance.’ U.S. crude production rose last week by 500,000 bpd to 13.71 MMbpd.
"Domestic production came back with a vengeance and not that far off the all-time record. Any worries that producers are cutting back on production because of the lower price range - those concerns are unfounded," said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 912,000 bpd, the EIA said, with crude imports to the U.S. Gulf Coast reaching their highest since December 2024.
U.S. crude exports fell 308,000 bpd to 3.7 MMbpd in the last week.
Refinery crude runs fell by 29,000 bpd, the EIA said.
Refinery utilization rates dropped by 1.1% in the week to 89.4%.
"We had a decent downtick in refinery utilization, partly because of that fierce weather we had, back under 90% overall," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, of the crude stock build.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.2 MMbbl in the week to 259.1 MMbbl, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a poll for a 360,000-bbl draw. They reached their highest since April 2020.
U.S. gasoline futures also pared gains after the surprise stock build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.7 MMbbl in the week to 124.7 MMbbl, versus expectations for a 1.3-MMbbl drop, the EIA data showed.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by 245,000 bpd to 21.11 MMbpd. Gasoline demand rose by 147,000 bpd to 8.3 MMbpd but remained below the four-week moving average and was down on the year. Distillate demand was up 138,000 bpd to 4.45 MMbpd.
Gasoline demand was hurt by the winter weather that led more people to stay indoors, Kilduff said, adding that the weather system increased distillate demand for heating, as gas output and flows were hit by the freeze.
Comments