US oil inventories fall 959,000 barrels in a week

The US Energy Information Administration said today that crude inventories in the United States fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week.

The administration added that crude inventories fell 959,000 barrels to 414.6 million barrels in the week ending January 3, compared to analysts’ expectations for a decline of 184,000 barrels, according to Reuters.

The administration said that crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery center fell by about 2.5 million barrels in the same week. Refinery crude runs rose by 45,000 barrels per day. Refinery utilization rates increased by 0.6 percentage points in the same week to 93.3%.

The administration said that gasoline inventories rose by 6.3 million barrels in the week to 237.7 million barrels, compared to analysts’ expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels.

The EIA data showed that distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.1 million barrels to 128.9 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 600,000-barrel increase.