DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Steady Amid Declining Crude Stocks
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Oil futures prices were steady Wednesday following reports from the Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute showing a draw in U.S. crude stocks for the week ended Feb. 21.
The EIA reported commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 2.3 million barrels (bbl) to 430.2 million bbl last week.
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The EIA data on commercial crude oil inventories showed a larger draw compared to the 640,000 million bbl draw reported by API on Tuesday for the same reference week.
Separately, supply at the Cushing, Oklahoma, tank farm -- the delivery point for NYMEX WTI futures -- rose 1.182 million bbl.
The EIA said gasoline stocks rose by 400,000 bbl, week-over-week, reaching 248.3 million bbl, which was below the 573,00-bbl increase reported by API for the same period.
Distillate fuel stocks rose 3.9 million bbl to 120.5 million bbl last week; the figure was above the 1.109-million-bbl drop API reported for the refence week.
Refinery utilization rates rose to 86.5% compared to above the 84.9% reported the prior week.
The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract slightly rose by $0.14 to $69.07 bbl, and the April ICE Brent futures contract was steady at $73.04. March RBOB futures contract fell by $0.0273 $1.9400 gallon while the ULSD futures contract for March delivery dropped by $0.0584 to $2.3319 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index remained unchanged at 106.25 against a basket of foreign currencies.
