US Crude Stockpiles Rise, Products Draw Down as Refining Drops

OIL AND GAS - NEW YORK. U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week while gasoline and distillate inventories fell as refinery runs dropped to their lowest since December 2022, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 12.0 million barrels to 439.5 million barrels in the week to Feb. 9, the EIA said, far exceeding analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.6 million-barrel build.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 710,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

Oil prices turned negative after the data. Brent crude futures fell 49 cents, or 0.6%, to $82.28 a barrel by 10:42 a.m. ET (1542 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 59 cents, or 0.8%, at $77.28 a barrel.

Read Also: Indonesia Election Quick Tallies Indicate Prabowo Had About 58% of Votes

Refiner net crude oil input fell last week to the lowest since December 2022, with refinery crude runs dropping by 298,000 barrels per day to 14.54 million bpd. Refinery utilization rates decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 80.6% of total capacity.

Gasoline stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels to 247.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel draw.​

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week to 125.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.2 million bpd, EIA said.