U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Fall More Than Expected

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week along with declines in gasoline and distillate stocks, as refineries reduced their capacity use, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 4.5 million barrels to 413 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 20, and were about 5% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said.

Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would decrease by 800,000 barrels.

Stocks of gasoline fell by 1.5 million barrels to 220.1 million barrels and were 1% below the five-year average, while distillate fuel stocks dropped by 2.2 million barrels to 122.9 million barrels and were about 9% below the five-year average.

Gasoline stockpiles were expected to fall by 500,000 barrels and distillate fuels by 1.2 million barrels, according to the Journal survey.

Refinery capacity use fell by 1.2 percentage points to 90.9%, against expectations of a 0.5 percentage point decrease.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Sept. 20: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -4.5          -1.5           -2.2               -1.2 
Forecast:          -0.8          -0.5           -1.2               -0.5 
 
 

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2024 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT)

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