Commercial crude stockpiles in the US unexpectedly dipped last week as motor gasoline and distillate fuel posted draws, government data showed Wednesday. Inventories of crude, excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, slid by 500,000 barrels to 425.5 million barrels through the week ended Friday, the Energy Information Administration said.
The consensus was for a gain of 1.8 million barrels, based on a Bloomberg poll. Inventories were 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. Total motor gasoline stocks dropped by 2.7 million barrels week to week while distillate fuel inventories declined by 1 million barrels. Propane and propylene stocks dipped by 200,000 barrels.
Total commercial petroleum inventories were down 9.5 million barrels last week, as indicated by the EIA's data. Crude refinery outputs averaged 16.1 million barrels per day last week, which was 30,000 barrels less than the previous week's daily average. Refineries operated at 89.1% of their capacity, down from 89.5% the week prior. Gasoline production decreased to 9.7 million barrels per day from 10 million barrels the week prior, while distillate fuel's dipped to 4.9 million barrels per day from 5 million barrels week to week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 2.3% to $68.72 a barrel by Wednesday afternoon, while Brent increased 2.2% to $72.25. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies may delay a planned oil output hike in December by at least one month amid soft demand and increasing supply, as reported on Wednesday. "Traders are split on whether OPEC+ will go ahead with a December production increase," Saxo Bank noted in a Wednesday commentary..