U.S. crude stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week, driven largely by a jump in imports, while fuel inventories also increased, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels to 459.7 million barrels in the week ended June 7, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel draw.
The surprise build came as U.S. crude imports rose by 2.56 million barrels per day (bpd), EIA said, hitting the highest level since August 2019.
Commercial crude imports were the most since August 2018, with West Coast imports at their strongest level since 2022.
Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures pared gains following the report.
Brent was trading at $82.03 a barrel, up about 15 cents, at 1518 GMT, while WTI was trading at $77.97, up about 6 cents. Both contracts had been up more than a dollar earlier in the day.
U.S. crude exports declined by 1.31 million bpd to 3.19 million bpd last week, the EIA said.
“There is a larger picture here where the US tends to import heavier crude oil and export the more lighter crude. So that’s part of the story here,” said Tim Evans, an independent energy analyst.
The jump in imports came as shipments of heavy crude from Mexico rose by 449,000 barrels per day to 987,000 bpd, the highest in seven months. Imports from Canada climbed 206,000 bpd to nearly 4 million bpd as the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline boosted volumes of crude to the West Coast following its startup in May.
Meanwhile, refinery crude runs fell by 97,000 bpd in the week ended June 7, while refinery utilization rates fell by 0.4 percentage points in the week to 95 per cent.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 2.6 million barrels in the week to 233.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.9 million-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 0.9 million barrels in the week to 123.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Fuel exports rose by 1.4 million barrels last week to 7.5 million bpd, the highest on record, according to the EIA.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said.