U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories rose unexpectedly last week driven by a rise in crude imports and sluggish gasoline demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3.2 million barrels to 448.2 million barrels in the week ended March 22, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
The crude build was supported by a net increase in U.S. crude imports by 1.12 million barrels per day, and is setting the stage for a monthly build in crude oil, according to Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler.
“Aside from an anomaly last year amid record crude exports, US crude inventories have shown a build in every March since the start of this century,” Smith said.
Crude oil futures pared some losses after the report, as the crude stock build was smaller than the build projected by the American Petroleum Institute.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week to 232.1 million barrels, the EIA said, as gasoline demand fell by about 94,000 barrels per day.
“All the enthusiasm that was built into the market, led by gasoline, has basically evaporated at this point,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Refinery crude runs rose by 147,000 barrels per day in the week ended March 22, the EIA said, and refinery utilization rates rose by 0.9 percentage points in the week.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 117.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.5 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 2.1 million barrels in the week ended March 22, the EIA said.