U.S. crude stocks rose as production jumped to a record high, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly Petroleum Status Report on Thursday.
Crude inventories rose by 10.2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 6 to 424.2 million barrels, well over the 500,000-barrel build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll.
“The crude build was stunning. The market is taking it as a little bearish, it’s pulled us off the highs,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. He added that the jump in U.S. production “caught some eyes” and “caused profit taking.”
U.S. weekly crude production soared by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) last week to a record high of 13.2 million bpd, EIA said. That was the biggest week-over-week gain in output since early August.
Crude futures pared earlier gains after the EIA report with Brent futures up 85 cents, 1.0 per cent, to $86.67 a barrel at 11:26 a.m. EDT (1526 GMT) and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude up 64 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $84.13.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 319,000 barrels last week to 21.8 million barrels, their lowest since July 2022, EIA said.
Refinery crude runs fell by 399,000 bpd in the last week, EIA said.
Refinery utilization rates fell by 1.6 percentage points in the week.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.3 million barrels in the week to 225.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for an 800,000-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.8 million barrels in the week to 117 million barrels, versus expectations for an 800,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose by 2 million bpd, EIA said.