US crude stockpiles slump, products build, EIA says

The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude stockpiles dropped sharply last week while gasoline and distillate stocks rose.

The EIA reported that crude inventories dropped by 11.5m barrels, to 420.9m barrels for the week ending on June 13. This was compared to analysts' expectations based on a poll of a 1.8m barrel draw. The EIA reported that crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma's delivery hub, fell by 995,00 barrels. Oil futures continued to fall despite EIA figures showing that crude inventories had declined more than expected. Brent crude traded down $1.61 to $74.77 per barrel at 10:37 am EDT (1437 GMT), whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded at $73.39 per barrel, down $1.45.

Before the release of the data, prices had fallen after U.S. president Donald Trump spoke about the Israel-Iran dispute and said Iran was willing to negotiate. Refinery crude production fell by 364,000 barrels a day. Utilization rates also fell by 1.1 points to 93.2%.

The EIA reported that gasoline stocks increased by 209,000 barrels last week, to 230,000,000 barrels. This is compared to forecasts of a 627,00 barrel build. ?

The data revealed that distillate stocks, which includes diesel and heating oil rose by 514,000 barges in a week, to 109.4 millions barrels. This was compared with expectations of a build of 440,000 barrels.

The EIA reported that net U.S. crude exports dropped by 1,75 million barrels per day. Reporting by Liz Hampton, Denver Editing Margueritachoy

(source: Reuters)