EIA: US crude stocks have unexpectedly impacted export and refinery demand

The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude stockpiles dropped unexpectedly due to higher exports and refinery demands, while gasoline inventories fell for the ninth consecutive week.

The EIA reported that crude inventories dropped by 2.7m barrels, to 440.4m barrels for the week ending April 25. This was in contrast with the analysts' polled expectations of a 429,000 barrel increase.

The EIA reported that crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma's delivery hub for futures contracts, rose by 682,000 barges in a week.

Crude prices have pared their losses despite the unexpected build. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 88 cents or 1.5% to $59.52 at 10:45 am. ET (1445 GMT), Brent crude dropped 96 cents or 1.5% to $63.29 per barrel.

Bob Yawger said that the big surprise in crude oil is due to a higher rate of refinery utilization and an increase in exports.

Exports increased by 572,000 barrels per day to 4.1 millions bpd last week, while net crude imports declined by 663,000 bpd.

Refinery crude output increased by 189,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the past week. Meanwhile, refinery utilization rates increased by 0.5 percentage points to 88.6%.

The EIA reported that gasoline stocks dropped by 4 million barrels last week, to 225.5 millions barrels. This was in contrast with the forecast of a 1,000,000 barrel draw.

Data showed that the gasoline draw fell for the ninth week in a row, marking the longest decline in the top fuel-consuming country in the world since a 11-week slump in June 2022.

Data showed that distillate stocks, which includes diesel and heating oil rose 900,000 barges in the past week, as opposed to expectations of a 1.6-million barrel drop. (Reporting and editing by Marguerita Choy in Houston)

(source: Reuters)