U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Post Bigger-Than-Expected Build

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories rose more than expected last week amid an increase in production and imports, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 3.7 million barrels to 420.3 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 3, and were about 4% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have increased by 700,000 barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR rose by 285,000 barrels to 407 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, were down by 763,000 barrels at 22.7 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.6 million barrels a day, up by 124,000 barrels a day from the week before. Crude oil imports were 570,000 barrels a day higher at 6.4 million barrels a day, and exports fell by 161,000 barrels a day to 3.6 million barrels a day.

Refinery capacity use rose by 1 percentage point to 92.4%, with crude input to refineries up by 130,000 barrels a day at 16.3 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have fallen by 0.9 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels to 219.1 million barrels, and were 1% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand increased by 401,000 barrels a day to 8.9 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have declined by 1 million barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks dropped by 2 million barrels to 121.6 million barrels against expectations of a 400,000 barrel decline, and were 6% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate demand increased by 730,000 barrels a day to 4.3 million barrels a day.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Oct. 3: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:           3.7          -1.6           -2.0                 1.0 
Forecast:           0.7          -1.0           -0.4                -0.9 
 

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