By Crude oil inventories in the US rose more than expected in the week ended November as gasoline and distillate stocks also increased sharply.
According to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) report, crude oil inventories in the country rose 2.1 million barrels last week to stand at 427.7 million barrels.
Analysts had expected crude stocks in the US to rise by just 300,000 barrels last week.
US oil inventories were about 5% below the five-year average for this time of the year, EIA said in its weekly report late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, refineries operated at 90.5% last week, up from 89.1% in the preceding week.
The unexpected rise in stockpiles in the US did not deter oil prices from rising higher on Thursday.
At the time of writing, the West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.5% higher at $72.05 per barrel, while Brent was at $75.33 per barrel, up 0.6% from the previous close.
Product stocks rise
Gasoline stocks in the US rose by 400,000 barrels to 211.3 million barrels last week, according to the data.
Additionally, distillate stockpiles also surged by 2.9 million barrels to 115.8 million barrels.
Gasoline and distillate inventories in the country were 2% and 6% below the five-year average, EIA said.
Stocks of residual fuel oil, however, fell by 700,000 barrels to 23.6 million barrels, while those of propane and propylene declined by 1 million barrels to 100.5 million barrels last week.
Production steady
Oil production in the world’s largest producer remained at record levels last week.
Crude oil production in the US was at 13.5 million barrels per day in the week ended November 1, unchanged from the previous week.
Monthly production had reached an all-time high in August to about 13.4 million barrels per day.
In top oil-producing states, output in Texas rose 1.7% in August to a record 5.82 million barrels per day, while New Mexico’s output increased 2.8% to a record 2.09 million barrels per day.
Stocks of crude oil at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI crude rose by 500,000 barrels to 25.9 million barrels last week.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the US rose 1.4 million barrels to 387.2 million barrels as of November 1.
The US government had recently expressed interest to buy up to 3 million barrels of crude oil from the market to fill up its strategic reserves.
Imports and exports
Crude oil imports by the US rose 265,000 barrels per day to 6.24 million barrels per day last week.
The four-week average for imports stood at 6.044 million barrels a day as of last week, down 2.4% from the corresponding period a year ago.
Exports by the US slumped by 1.41 million barrels per day last week to clock 2.85 million barrels a day, the data showed.
The four-week average for exports as of last week was a whopping 21.5% lower on a year-on-year basis at 3.84 million barrels per day.
Lower exports indicate robust domestic demand for fuel in the US.
As the winter season approaches, the use of oil and gas is likely to increase further.
Imports from Saudi Arabia rose the most by 430,000 barrels per day to 443,000 barrels per day last week.
Meanwhile, imports of crude oil from Mexico fell the most by 374,000 barrels per day to 247,000 barrels per day last week.
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