Crude oil stockpiles fell last week for their first weekly decline in four and fuel inventories slipped as well amid a drop in gasoline prices and benign weather that encouraged more driving among Americans, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2022) Crude oil stockpiles fell last week for their first weekly decline in four and fuel inventories slipped as well amid a drop in gasoline prices and benign weather that encouraged more driving among Americans, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday.
A 30% surge in crude exports during the week, to an average of 4.6 million barrels per day, also led to lower domestic balances for oil, the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed.
Meanwhile, drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were at a smaller-than-usual 4.6 million barrels last week versus the norm of around five to seven million barrels per week that helped reduce the overall crude inventories on the market.
Crude stockpiles fell by 251,000 barrels during the week that ended on September 23 versus forecasts by industry analysts for a build of 2 million and against the previous week's rise of 1.14 million, the report showed.
Prior to the decline, crude stocks had risen non-stop for three weeks, growing by nearly 12 million barrels.
"It's a combination of good weather and easier gasoline prices that's probably still encouraging road travels and tank fill-ups at this time of year," John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital, said. "Also, exports of crude were a blow-out last week, while the SPR drawdown was lower."
Stockpiles of gasoline fell by 2.422 million barrels last week against expectations for a build of 500,000. In the previous week, gasoline inventories rose by 1.569 million barrels.
Stockpiles of distillates - the oil variant required for making the diesel needed for trucks, buses and trains, as well as the fuel for jets - fell by 2.891 million barrels last week, versus forecasts for a build of 600,000. In the previous week, distillate stockpiles rose by 1.231 million barrels.
