US oil inventories are falling much more than expected and commodity prices continue to rise

Crude oil inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels last week; Analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll indicated a decrease of 320 thousand

Reuters


September 27, 2023 at 12:23 pm

PCK Schwedt oil refinery in Schwedt, Germany (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week while inventories of gasoline and other oil products rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

After the data was published, Brent crude and US oil contracts continued their rise and reached session highs of $96.03 and $93.44 per barrel, respectively.

Crude oil inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels last week to 416.3 million barrels, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a decline of 320,000 barrels.

The International Energy Agency said that crude oil stocks at the delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, decreased by 943,000 barrels over the past week.

The International Energy Agency said that oil refining fell by 239,000 barrels per day last week.

Refinery operating rates decreased by 2.4 percentage points during the week.

The International Energy Agency said that gasoline stocks in the United States increased by one million barrels over the week to 220.5 million barrels, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll of a decline of 120,000 barrels.

International Energy Agency data showed that stocks of derivatives, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 400,000 barrels over the week to 120.1 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.3 million barrels.

The International Energy Agency said that net US oil imports rose by 1.77 million barrels per day.