US crude and fuel inventories climb, refining activity picks up, EIA says

By Georgina McCartney

HOUSTON, Dec 3 - U.S. crude and fuel inventories rose last week as refining activity picked up, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 574,000 barrels to 427.5 million barrels in the week ended November 28, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for an 821,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 457,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Oil futures and gasoline prices pared earlier gains following the release of data, which was published late around 11:09 a.m. ET, due to technical issues, the EIA said.

U.S. ultra-low-sulfur diesel futures extended losses after the report was published.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 433,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI increased by 1.8 percentage points in the week to 94.1%.

“We definitely saw refiners respond to stronger margins, increasing their runs,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 4.52 million barrels in the week to 214.42 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.1 million barrels in the week to 114.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 707,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by 51,000 bpd to 20.189 million bpd.

"Across-the-board inventory builds will pressure price and refining margins. The pressure is likely to continue with refining utilization increasing to over 94% at a time when seasonal gasoline demand is declining," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell 470,000 bpd to 2.37 million bpd.