U.S. crude and gasoline stocks rose last week as refineries undergoing seasonal maintenance restarted their units more slowly than expected to avoid a further build-up in fuel inventories, reported Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
* Crude oil flows to refineries increased by just 62,000 barrels a day last week, according to the EIA, and refinery utilization rates fell 0.2 percentage points on the week. Sometimes crude oil inputs increase even as usage decreases as refineries reduce the processing of other inputs.
* Despite lower usage, US gasoline inventories rose by 100,000 barrels in the week to 223.5 million barrels, according to the EIA, compared with the expectations of analysts in a Reuters poll for a drop of 800,000 barrels.
* Crude oil inventories rose by 774,000 barrels to 421.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 27, below analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 1.3 million barrels.
* Crude oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery center rose by 272,000 barrels, according to the EIA.
* Oil prices extended their gains after the data was released.
* Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 800,000 barrels in the week to 111.3 million barrels, as demand for heating oil rose seasonally.
* Net imports of US crude oil rose by 348,000 barrels per day, according to the EIA.
