US crude oil inventories stage surprise increase, DoE says
US oil stockpiles jumped unexpectedly last week, as net imports increased slightly and refinery rates declined.
According to the US Department of Energy, commercial crude oil inventories in the States rose by 2.8m barrels over the week ending on 22 March (consensus: -1.2m b/d)to reach 442.3m barrels, putting them roughly 2% below their five-year average.
In parallel, the rate of refinery capacity use slipped to 86.6% while net imports edged up by 114,000 barrels a day to 3.654m b/d.
Within the latter, exports were down by 506,000 b/d.
Product stockpiles meanwhile were all lower, with those of gasoline shrinking by 2.9m barrels and those of distillates by 2.1m barrels.
Propane/propylene inventories on the other hand increased by 0.5m barrels.
Domestic US oil output meanwhile was steady at 12.1m b/d.
As of 1623 GMT, front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were dipping by 0.177% to $67.85 a barrel on the ICE.