May 10, 2024 [Morning Star]- U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week and stocks of gasoline and distillate fuels rose as refineries lifted 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 1.4 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels in the week ended May 3, and were about 3% 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 fall by 500,000 barrels.

Oil in the SPR increased by 947,000 barrels to 367.2 million barrels, the EIA said.

Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, was up by 1.9 million barrels at 35.3 million barrels. Refinery capacity use rose to 88.5% from 87.5% the week before. Refinery runs were forecast to rise by 0.7 percentage point.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.1 million barrels a day, unchanged from the week before. A 198,000 barrels-a-day increase in crude imports to 7 million barrels a day was offset by a rise in exports of 550,000 barrels a day to 4.5 million barrels a day.

Gasoline inventories rose by 915,000 barrels to 228 million barrels, and were 2% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand was 8.8 million barrels a day, up by 178,000 barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to fall by 900,000 barrels in the Journal survey.

Distillate fuel stocks increased by 560,000 barrels to 116.4 million barrels, compared with expectations of a 700,000 barrel decline. Distillate stocks were 7% below the five-year average, the EIA said.

Crude oil benchmarks turned higher following the report, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.4% on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent advancing 0.3% on ICE Futures Europe.

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