DTN Oil Update

Oil Futures Rise on US Crude, Gasoline Draws

HOUSTON (DTN) -- â?¯Oil futures contract prices rose on Wednesday in response to Energy Information Administration data showing a draw in U.S. crude inventory stocks and a drop in gasoline inventories for the week ended Jan. 10.

The EIA said commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 2 million barrels (bbl) to 412.7 million bbl in the week ended Jan. 10, despite a drop in refining utilization in the same period.

U.S. crude inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of the year, EIA said.

The EIA data on commercial crude oil inventories were lower than the 2.6 million bbl drop American Petroleum Institute data showed Tuesday for the same reference week.

API also showed crude oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, tank farm, the delivery point for NYMEX WTI futures, added 573,000 bbl.

Gasoline stocks rose 5.9 million bbl week-over-week to reach 243.6 million bbl, while distillate fuel stocks rose 3.1 million bbl to 132 million bbl last week, the EIA said.

In contrast, API data reported gasoline inventory increased 5.39 million bbl while distillate fuel supply rose 4.88 million bbl during the same reference week.

Gasoline supplies were at 8.3 million barrels per day (bpd), down 156,000 bpd compared to the previous week. Distillate fuel oil supplies rose by 661,000 bpd to 3.8 million bpd in the reference week.

Crude oil throughput edged down for the first time in four weeks to 13.5 million bpd last week, compared to the week ended Jan. 3, according to EIA data.

Crude oil refinery inputs were at 16.6 million bpd, 255,000 bpd lower than the previous week's average.

Refinery utilization rates were at 91.7%, above 93.3% reported the prior week.

Oil futures are expected to continue facing upward pressure due to limited crude stocks reported by API and EIA, and stricter sanctions on Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan crudes expected in the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract rose by $1.17 to $78.67 bbl, but the March ICE Brent futures contract climbed by $0.84 to $80.76. February RBOB futures contract rose $0.0318 to $2.1364 gallon while the front-month ULSD futures contract rose by $0.0488 to $2.5741 gallon.

Maria Eugenia Garcia can be reached at Maria.Garcia@dtn.com