By Dan Molinski
U.S. crude-oil inventories declined last week but gasoline and diesel stockpiles rose dramatically, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.
Benchmark U.S. oil prices that were sharply higher before the mixed-to-bearish report was released reduced those gains afterward. The Nymex front-month crude contract for February delivery was recently up 1.2% at $77.92 a barrel.
Crude-oil stockpiles declined by 2.1 million barrels to 417.9 million barrels, and are now about 8% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would fall by 3 million barrels from the prior week.
Oil stored at Cushing, the delivery point for U.S. stocks, rose by 2.6 million barrels from the previous week, to 37.3 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.
U.S. crude-oil production was unchanged from the previous week, holding at a 19-month-high of 11.8 million barrels a day, according to the EIA.
Gasoline stockpiles climbed by 10.1 million barrels to 232.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for inventories to increase by just 1.1 million barrels from the previous week.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 4.4 million barrels to 126.8 million barrels, and are now about 16% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts were forecasting distillates inventories would rise by 400,000 barrels from the previous week.
The refining capacity utilization rate rose by 0.1 percentage points from the previous week to 89.8%, compared with analysts' forecasts for a 0.2 percentage point increase.
U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Dec. 31:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -2.1 +10.2 +4.4 +0.1
Forecast: -3.0 +1.1 +0.4 +0.2
Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-05-22 1100ET
