US Crude Inventories Rise as Exports Fall, the EIA Says

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week as exports declined, while fuel inventories also grew on weaker demand, despite record product exports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels to 427.7 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 1, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel rise.

Net U.S. crude imports rose by 1.7 million barrels per day, as exports fell by 1.4 million bpd to 2.9 million bpd, the EIA said.

Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 522,000 barrels in the week.

U.S. oil prices, however, were volatile following the bearish report. Brent futures were trading at $75.33, down 19 cents, at 11:24 a.m EST (1624 GMT), after briefly turning positive. West Texas Intermediate crude was roughly flat at $72.02 a barrel.

"The big thing is exports were down," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. "That oil has no place to go, but other than back up into storage," he added.

Exports of petroleum products out of the U.S., however, hit a record high of 7.6 million bpd, a 1.3 million-barrel increase.

Product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell in the week to 19.7 million bpd, down 1.9 million bpd.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week to 115.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.1 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Refinery crude runs increased by 281,000 bpd, while utilization rates rose by 1.4% percentage points to 90.5% of total capacity, the EIA said.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com