By Dan Molinski


U.S. crude-oil inventories surprisingly fell last week and gasoline stockpiles declined more than expected, according to data released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.

Benchmark U.S. oil prices that were slightly higher before the mostly-bullish report was released extended those gains afterward but then pulled back amid sharp declines in U.S. equities. The Nymex front-month crude contract for June delivery was recently down 0.4% at $111.97 a barrel.

Crude-oil stockpiles fell by 3.4 million barrels, to 420.8 million barrels, and are now about 14% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would rise by 1.4 million barrels from the prior week.

Oil stored at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for U.S. stocks, decreased by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week, to 25.8 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.

U.S. crude-oil production rose by 100,000 barrels a day from the previous week, to 11.9 million barrels a day, according to the EIA.

Gasoline stockpiles declined by 4.8 million barrels, to 220.2 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for inventories to decrease by just 1 million barrels from the previous week.

Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 1.2 million barrels, to 105.3 million barrels, and are now about 22% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Analysts were forecasting distillates inventories would be unchanged from the previous week.

The refining capacity utilization rate jumped by 1.8 percentage points from the previous week, to 91.8%, compared with analysts' forecasts for a smaller, 0.6 percentage-point increase. 


 
U.S. oil inventories for the week ended May 13: 
 
             Crude  Gasoline  Distillates  Refinery Use 
EIA data:     -3.4      -4.8        +1.2           +1.8 
Forecast:     +1.4      -1.0        unch           +0.6

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.


Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-18-22 1100ET