U.S. crude oil stockpiles plunge last week amid storm – EIA

U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell sharply last week, as a storm cut production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, while gasoline stocks increased and distillate inventories fell, the Energy Information Administration said.

Crude inventories fell by 8 million barrels in the week to Oct. 30, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 890,000 barrels.

“The decline in domestic production is mostly driven by the shut ins in the Gulf of Mexico during the reporting period,” said John Kilduff, founding Partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. “That was part of the big crude oil draw down.”

Crude production fell 600,000 barrels per day to 10.5 million bpd last week, the EIA said.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 936,000 barrels, EIA said.

Futures traded higher with global benchmark Brent up $1 a barrel, or $2.52%, at $40.71, and U.S. crude 92 cents a barrel, or 2.7% higher at $38.58 by 11:33 a.m. EST (15:33 GMT).

Refinery crude runs rose by 164,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates rose by 0.7 percentage point, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks rose by 1.5 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 871,000-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.0 million-barrel draw, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 560,000 bpd.
Source: Reuters (Editing by Marguerita Choy)