US crude inventories rise the most in 3 years as refinery demand slips, imports increase, EIA says
By Georgina McCartney and Shariq Khan
HOUSTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude inventories rose by the most last week since February 2023, as refinery utilization slowed and imports increased, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 16 million barrels to 435.8 million barrels in the week ended February 20, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5-million-barrel rise.
The EIA's adjustment number, which reflects changes in crude stocks that are unaccounted for, hit a record last week at 2.7 million barrels per day.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI increased by 881,000 barrels, the EIA said.
STOCKS WEIGH ON PRICES
U.S. crude futures CLc1 extended losses after the data showed a much larger-than-expected build in crude inventories and last traded at $65.36 a barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 turned negative, and were last at $70.69 as of 11:13 a.m. EDT (1613 GMT).
"Because the crude build seems anomalous, you're not seeing the market react too much. We're all trying to dig through the numbers and see how they got to that large build," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital.
Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 416,000 bpd.
Refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI dipped by 2.4 percentage points in the week to 88.6%.
"It looks to be a combination of above-average imports and a tick down in refinery rates, but that's not unusual at this time of the year. The cold weather in the Northeast likely factored into the decrease in refinery rates," said Kilduff.
Net U.S. crude imports
Crude imports from Venezuela rose last week to their highest since January 2025, increasing by 290,000 bpd to 339,000 bpd.
Chevron and other U.S. refiners are preparing to boost Venezuelan oil processing at their refineries, which is expected to further raise U.S.-bound exports from the South American country.
U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 1 million barrels in the week to 254.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 560,000-barrel draw.
U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 were little changed after the data.
Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 252,000 barrels in the week to 120.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
U.S. ultra-low-sulfur diesel futures HOc1 extended losses after the data showed the surprise build in distillate stocks.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by 193,000 bpd to 21.46 million bpd.
Gasoline demand fell by 16,000 bpd to 8.73 million bpd, and distillate demand fell by 858,000 bpd to 3.9 million bpd.
