U.S. crude stocks fell last week, driven by strong crude oil exports, while gasoline and diesel inventories drew down as refiners began annual autumn maintenance, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels in week ending Sept. 15 to 418.5 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel drop.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 2.1 million barrels in the last week, EIA said, its lowest since July 2022.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were unchanged at $91.20 a barrel by 10:57 a.m. EDT (1557 GMT). Brent crude futures fell 13 cents to $94.21.
The U.S. Federal Reserve “is overhanging the picture here with market waiting to see what they’re going to signal ... further tightening or higher for longer type of rhetoric,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
The drop in inventories was driven by a 2,000 barrel per day climb in crude oil exports, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 3.04 million barrels per day, EIA said.
Refinery runs edged lower as refiners across the U.S. began shutting off fuel-producing units for autumn maintenance.
Refinery crude runs fell by 496,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said, while refinery utilization rates fell by 1.8 percentage points in the week.
Lower refinery runs led to a drawdown on gasoline and distillate stocks as supply was pulled from inventories.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 0.8 million barrels in the week to 219.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 million-barrel rise.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.9 million barrels in the week to 119.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.2 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.