Unexpected Rise in U.S. Crude Oil Inventories

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories decreased. The EIA reported that crude inventories increased by 1.36 million barrels to 430.7 million barrels in the week ending August 9th, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a decrease of 2.2 million barrels. The EIA also noted that crude inventories at the Cushing delivery hub in Oklahoma fell by 1.7 million barrels. Crude oil futures extended their losses after the unexpected rise. Brent crude futures were trading at $80.32 per barrel, down about 37 cents at 14:48 GMT, while U.S. crude futures fell 63 cents to $77.72 per barrel. Refinery crude consumption increased by 65,000 barrels per day, and refinery utilization rates increased by one percentage point to 91.5% for the week. The EIA reported that gasoline inventories decreased by 2.9 million barrels to 222.2 million barrels for the week, more than double the expectations for a decline of 1.3 million barrels. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, decreased by 1.7 million barrels to 126.1 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 520,000 barrels. The EIA also reported that U.S. net crude imports fell by 57,000 barrels per day to 2.53 million barrels per day, while exports increased by 118,000 barrels per day to 3.76 million barrels per day.