US Crude Oil Inventories Drop, Imports Decline

The US Energy Information Administration announced on Thursday that crude oil and distillate inventories in the United States declined during the past week, while gasoline stocks increased.

The agency said crude oil inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels during the week ending October 9, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll of a decrease of 288,000 barrels.

It added that crude oil inventories at the Cushing storage and delivery hub in Oklahoma rose by 1.9 million barrels during the week.

Data showed that the amount of crude processed by US refineries increased by 135,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates rose by 0.8 percentage points to reach 93.5%.

In contrast, US gasoline inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 208.3 million barrels, contrary to analysts' expectations of a decline of 500,000 barrels.

Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels to 102.6 million barrels, compared with forecasts of a decline of 1.6 million barrels.

The Energy Information Administration added that net US imports of crude oil decreased by 596,000 barrels per day during the week.