DTN Oil Update

Crude Oil Futures Fall on Higher Stocks Last Week

HOUSTON (DTN) -- â?¯Crude oil futures were mixed Wednesday after Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed a build in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories for the week ended Jan. 24, while diesel stocks dropped in the same reference week.

The EIA said commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. rose by 3.5 million barrels (bbl) to 415.1 million bbl in the week ended Jan. 24.

The EIA data on commercial crude oil inventories was above the 2.86 million barrels per day (bpd) increase reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, Jan. 29, for the same reference week. Crude oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, tank farm, the delivery point for NYMEX WTI futures, declined 144,000 bbl, according to API data.

Downstream, EIA said gasoline stocks rose by 3.0 million bbl week-over-week to reach 248.9 million bbl, while distillate fuel stocks fell by 5.0 million bbl to 116.2 million bbl last week.

Both figures were considerably higher than the 1.89-million-bbl increase in gasoline inventory and 3.75-million-bbl fall in distillate fuel stocks reported by the API during last week.

Separately, gasoline supplies were at 8.3 million bpd -- 216,000 bpd higher than the previous week. Distillate fuel oil supplies rose by 398,000 bpd to 4.5 million bpd in the reference week, the EIA said.

Crude oil throughput edged down for the third consecutive week by 237,000 bpd to 13.2 million bpd last week, compared to the week ended Jan. 17, the EIA data showed.

Crude oil refinery inputs were at 15.2 million bpd -- 333,000 bpd lower than the previous week's average.

Refinery utilization rates were 83.5%, below the 85.9% reported the prior week, due to planned maintenance works at some U.S. Gulf Coast refineries and other output disruptions caused by a winter storm last week.

The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract fell by $0.56 to $73.21 bbl, and March ICE Brent futures contract edged down by $0.35 to $77.14. February RBOB futures contract fell by $0.0045 to $2.0481 gallon while the ULSD futures contract for February delivery increased by $0.0107 to $2.4608 gallon.

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