February 22, 2024 (Reuters) – The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an increase in U.S. crude oil stockpiles for the week ending February 16, with gasoline and distillate inventories witnessing a decline. Refinery maintenance and outages were identified as contributing factors to the subdued activity in the sector.
According to the EIA, crude inventories grew by 3.5 million barrels, reaching 442.9 million barrels, a figure slightly below analysts’ expectations of a 3.9 million-barrel rise, as revealed in a Reuters poll.
In Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery hub, crude stocks experienced an uptick of 741,000 barrels last week, totaling 29.5 million barrels, as per the EIA’s findings.
Refinery crude runs showed a marginal increase by 31,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates remained unchanged at 80.6% of total capacity for the week.
Reacting to the EIA data, crude and distillate prices exhibited upward movement, while gasoline futures remained steady. Analysts, such as Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, anticipate a continuation of crude builds and product draws amidst ongoing refinery maintenance.
Refinery disruptions, both unplanned and planned, notably following a winter storm in January, have maintained refining activities at levels not seen since late 2022. The Whiting facility in Indiana, the Midwest’s largest refinery, faced an outage from the beginning of February, contributing to both product draws and crude builds.
Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS, commented on the situation, noting, “With the Whiting refinery still down, we saw another week with large product draws.”
Gasoline stocks decreased by 294,000 barrels to 247 million barrels, contrary to analysts’ forecasts predicting a 2.1 million-barrel draw. The EIA highlighted gasoline drawdowns in the Gulf Coast, Midwest, and West Coast, while stocks along the East Coast rose by 1.4 million barrels to 64.37 million barrels, reaching their highest point since January 2022.
Distillate stockpiles, encompassing diesel and heating oil, registered a notable decline of 4 million barrels to 121.7 million barrels, surpassing expectations for a 1.7 million-barrel drop, according to EIA data.