US oil stocks should be drawing down at this time of year: Oil trader
Aug 10 (Reuters) – US oil stocks rose last week, but stocks of gasoline and distillates fell, the U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose 1.1 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.0 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.163 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said.
“It’s a mixed report with the build in both total crude and Cushing inventories offset by the bigger-than-expected draw in gasoline,” said Tariq Zahir, trader in crude oil spreads at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York. “At this time of year, we should be drawing down in crude inventories and we are still building. And while we saw a draw in gasoline we are still at record levels in the product markets.”
Gasoline stocks fell 2.8 million barrels, the second-biggest weekly draw since mid-April, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2 million barrels, versus expectations for an increase of 513,000 barrels. On the U.S. Gulf Coast, the drawdown was the largest since 2013.
WTI crude futures for September delivery fell 16 cents to $42.61 a barrel, a 0.4 percent loss, following the data release. Brent crude futures for October delivery fell 8 cents to $44.90 a barrel, a 0.2 percent loss.
Refinery crude runs fell by 255,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates fell by 1.1 percentage points. U.S. East Coast refinery utilization fell 4.9 percentage points to 80.6 percent, the lowest level seasonally since 2011.
U.S. crude imports fell last week by 334,000 barrels per day.
(Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
