Crude stockpiles rose by 833,000 barrels to 419.1 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 6
Updated Sept. 11, 2024 11:31 am ET
U.S. Commercial Crude Oil Stocks Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 2023’24 and millions of barrels.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose for the first time in four weeks, and gasoline and distillate stocks increased amid lower demand, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 833,000 barrels to 419.1 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 6, and were about 4% 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 increase by 700,000 barrels.
Oil held in the SPR was up by 279,000 barrels at 380 million barrels. Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 1.7 million barrels to 24.7 million barrels in a fifth consecutive weekly withdrawal.
The EIA estimated crude oil production at 13.3 million barrels a day, unchanged from the week before. Crude imports rose by 1.1 million barrels a day to 6.9 million barrels a day, while exports fell by 451,000 barrels a day to 3.3 million barrels a day.
Gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles both rose by 2.3 million barrels to 221.6 million barrels and 125 million barrels, respectively, with refineries operating at 92.8% of capacity compared with 93.3% the previous week. Gasoline stocks were seen increasing by 100,000 barrels, and distillate stocks by 400,000 barrels in the Journal survey.
Gasoline demand fell by 460,000 barrels a day last week to 8.5 million barrels a day, according to the EIA, and distillate fuel demand was down by 439,000 barrels a day at 3.6 million barrels a day.
Oil futures were higher as Hurricane Francine curbed production in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Tuesday estimated that platform evacuations led to 23.6% of offshore oil production and 26.6% of natural gas production to be shut in.
Francine is expected to make landfall in Louisiana later Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com
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