DTN Oil Update

Maria Eugenia Garcia
DTN Energy Editor

HOUSTON (DTN) -- Oil futures were mixed on Wednesday following Energy Information Administration (EIA) and American Petroleum Institute (API) data showing builds in commercial crude oil and distillates stocks, while gasoline inventories declined in the week ending July 25.

This morning, the Energy Information Administration reported that the U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased for the first time in two weeks through July 25, while gasoline supply fell and distillate inventories rose for a third week. Refinery activity held near the highest rate in over a year, though total fuel demand remained below 2024 levels.

Crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 7.7 million bbl to 426.7 million bbl last week, about 1.5% below the five-year average for this time of year. The build was higher than the 1.539 million bbl increase the American Petroleum Institute's reported on Tuesday, July 29.

Distillate fuel inventories also rose by 3.6 million bbl to 113.5 million bbl, below the 4.189 million bbl build reported by API. Distillate stocks are about 10.5% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA stated.

In contrast, gasoline inventories saw a draw of 2.7 million bbl, falling to 228.4 million bbl, still slightly above the five-year average. API reported a 1.739 million bbl draw. Stocks of blending components were down by 3.5 million bbl, and conventional gasoline stocks rose by 800,000 bbl.

Refinery utilization eased slightly to 95.2% of capacity as of July 25 from 95.5% the prior week. Refineries processed 16.911 million bpd of crude oil, down 25,000 bpd from the week prior.

The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract rose by $1.04 to $70.26 bbl, and the September ICE Brent futures contract increased by $0.92 to $73.43 bbl. The August RBOB futures contract climbed by $0.0627 to $2.2811 gallon, while the ULSD futures contract for August delivery remained under downward pressure, dropping by $0.0409 to $2.4229 gallon.

The U.S. dollar rose by 0.968 points to 99.615 against a basket of foreign currencies.