U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week to below 400 million barrels, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose as refiners ramped up production, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Sept. 12.
Crude inventories fell 5.3 million barrels in the week to Sept. 7 to 396.2 million barrels, the lowest level since February 2015, and about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said. Analysts had forecast a decrease of 805,000 barrels.
U.S. Midwest crude oil inventories fell to 105.9 million barrels last week, the lowest weekly level since January 2015, EIA data showed.
Inventories at the Cushing, Okla., delivery hub for U.S. crude futures, located in the PADD 2 or the Midwest, fell 1.2 million barrels, EIA said.
The bullish weekly report sent crude futures higher, with global benchmark Brent rising more than $1 a barrel in the session to a high of $80.13 a barrel. U.S. crude rose $1.65 a barrel to $70.90 after the report was issued.
"A solid draw to crude inventories this week was the result of a counter-seasonal increase in refining activity - at a point when we should be tumbling into fall maintenance," said Matt Smith, director of commodities research at ClipperData.
"The Midwest accounted for the lion's share of the inventory drop, while lower crude imports, higher crude exports and higher refinery runs on the Gulf Coast also help explain away a good part of today's crude draw," he said.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 443,000 barrels per day (bbl/d).
Refinery crude runs rose by 210,000 bbl/d and utilization rates increased 1 percentage point to 97.6% of total capacity, EIA data showed.
Gasoline stocks rose 1.3 million barrels, slightly below analysts' expectations.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.2 million barrels, vs. expectations for a 1.4 million-barrel increase, the EIA data showed.
Recommended Reading
Nature’s Way: Biotech Companies Capturing Carbon, Revenue
2024-07-10 - Executives from Occidental Petroleum-backed Cemvita, Carbon Optimum and Novonesis share insights into how CO2 could be used for biofuels, fertilizer, food, proteins, plastics and even oil.
Occidental’s 1PointFive Agrees to Sell Carbon Credits to Microsoft
2024-07-09 - 1PointFive said the agreement marks the largest single purchase of CO2 removal credits enabled by direct air capture to date.
Occidental’s Stratos DAC Project on Track for 2025 Startup
2024-08-12 - Occidental Petroleum’s direct air capture commercial-scale facility in Texas is designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually.
CF Industries Enters CO2 Transport, Sequester Deal with Exxon
2024-07-28 - CF Industries Holdings will transport and sequester to Exxon Mobil CO2 from its carbon capture and sequestration project in Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Babcock & Wilcox Awarded FEED for Waste-to-energy Plant
2024-09-05 - Varme Energy’s waste-to-energy project with carbon capture and sequestration capabilities is the first of its kind in Canada.