The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that U.S. crude and fuel inventories dropped suddenly last week as demand for fuel increased and refineries cut production.
Crude oil inventories fell 215,000 barrels in the week ended Sept. 23 to 430.6 million barrels, up 443,000 barrels from analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll.
The administration added that crude oil inventories at a delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 692,000 barrels.
Refinery consumption fell by 604,000 bpd, according to the Energy Administration.
Overall refinery utilization fell three percentage points to 90.6% in the US, the highest seasonally since 2014.
U.S. gasoline inventories fell 2.4 million barrels to 212.2 million barrels, compared with expectations for a rise of 709,000 barrels. Inventories of distillates, including diesel and heating fuel, fell by 2.9 million barrels.
And US net imports of crude oil fell by 1.6 million bpd last week, with exports rising sharply to 4.6 million bpd.
Source: El Iktisad
