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U.S. Crude-Oil Inventories Rise as Refinery Activity Slows

U.S. inventories of crude oil unexpectedly increased last week as refinery activity slowed down, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.

Benchmark U.S. oil prices, which were down sharply before the report was released, remained significantly lower afterward. The Nymex crude contract for September delivery was recently down 3.5% at $55.09 a barrel.

Crude-oil stockpiles rose by 1.6 million barrels to 440.5 million barrels, and now are about 3% above the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would fall by 2.1 million barrels from the prior week.

Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for U.S. stocks, fell by 2.5 million barrels to 44.8 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.

Gasoline stockpiles decreased by 1.4 million barrels to 233.8 million barrels, while analysts were expecting them to rise by 100,000 barrels on the week.

Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel decreased by 1.9 million barrels to 135.5 million barrels, and are now about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said. Earlier in the week, analysts had forecast supplies would increase by 900,000 barrels from the previous week.

The refining capacity utilization rate slid by 1.6 percentage points from the previous week to 94.8%. Analysts were expecting the rate to remain unchanged from the previous week.
Source: Dow Jones

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