US crude stocks rose for sixth consecutive week

Commercial crude oil inventories in the US increased by 1.37 million bbls to reach 448.53 million bbls on 1 March, according to the EIA data released yesterday.

PHOTO: Oil refinery and pipeline in the desert during sunset. Getty Images

However, the weekly crude stock build was much smaller compared to the build of 4.20 million bbls a week before.

“The crude build was less than last week, as refinery runs rose, despite higher net-imports. Still product inventories saw large drop, as implied demand and exports of refined products rose,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told ENGINE.

The official EIA data showed that US refinery utilisation increased by 3.4 percentage points to 85%. Refinery utilisation has averaged 82% this month, down from 87% in January.

Gasoline stocks dropped by 4.46 million bbls over the week to 239.75 million bbls – the lowest in nine weeks. Distillate stocks, which include diesel and gasoil, have declined for the seventh consecutive week. The stocks dropped by 4.13 million bbls to 117.01 million bbls.

Distillate stocks dropped by 8% in February, indicating strong demand.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online