U.S. Oil Inventories Decline More Than Expected
U.S. inventories of oil fell more than expected for the week ended Oct. 6 as gasoline supplies rose and refinery activity sped up, according to data released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration.
Crude-oil stockpiles slid 2.7 million barrels to 462.2 million barrels but remain near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude supplies would fall by 1.7 million barrels on the week.
Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for U.S. stocks, increased by 1.3 million barrels to 63.8 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.
Gasoline stockpiles rose 2.5 million barrels to 221.4 million barrels, while analysts in the survey were expecting it to fall by 600,000 barrels.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 134 million barrels and are still in the lower half of the average range, the EIA said. Earlier in the week, analysts had forecast supplies would fall by 1.4 million barrels from a week earlier.
Refining capacity utilization unexpectedly rose by 1.1 percentage point from the previous week to 89.1%. Analysts were expecting the rate to slip by 0.1 percentage points.
U.S. oil inventories for week ended Oct. 6:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: -2.7 +2.5 -1.5 +1.1
Forecast: -1.7 -0.6 -1.4 -0.1
Write to Dan Molinski at Dan.Molinski@wsj.com
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Dan Molinski
ENERGY REPORTER
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