U.S. crude oil stocks experienced a larger-than-expected increase, while gasoline and distillate inventories saw a decline, indicating robust fuel demand, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For the week ending March 14, crude inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels, reaching a total of 437 million barrels.
This increase surpassed analysts’ predictions, which anticipated only a 512,000-barrel rise. At the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub, crude stocks decreased by 1 million barrels.
Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics, noted that there remains substantial demand for the crude oil being produced. Following the release of the data, Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed, both showing an increase of over 0.6% by 11:11 a.m. EDT.
On the other hand, U.S. gasoline stocks decreased by approximately 530,000 barrels to 240.6 million barrels, a drop significantly less than the expected 2.2 million barrels. Distillate stockpiles, which encompass diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.8 million barrels, compared to expectations of a 300,000-barrel dip.
Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests, interpreted the EIA’s net draw, including products, as incrementally bullish for the market. Additionally, net U.S. crude imports dropped by 1.44 million barrels per day to 741,000 bpd, marking the lowest level since October 2023.
Imports from Canada also fell to 3.1 million bpd, the lowest seen since March 2023. It is worth noting that the U.S. imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico in early March.
Refinery crude runs edged down by 45,000 barrels per day, but refinery utilization rates increased by 0.4 percentage points during the week. However, utilization on the East Coast fell to 53.8%, the lowest rate since July 2020.