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United States crude stockpiles increase, items draw down as refining slumps - EIA

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week while gas and distillate inventories fell as refining dropped to their most affordable levels given that December 2022, the Energy Info Administration stated on Wednesday.

Crude stocks rose by 12.0 million barrels to 439.5 million barrels in the week to Feb. 9, the EIA said, far exceeding analysts' expectations in a poll for a 2.6 million-barrel build.

A combination of significant unintended outages since a. mid-January winter storm and prepared turnarounds caused a downturn. in refining to its least expensive levels since the recently of. December 2022, when Winter Storm Elliott similarly knocked. scores of refineries offline.

Refinery unrefined runs last week fell by. 298,000 barrels daily to 14.54 million bpd and refinery. utilization rates reduced by 1.8 portion. points to 80.6% of total capability.

Refinery rates in the Midwest slid by 12 portion. points in the previous week to 83.1%, also the most affordable since. December. The 435,000-bpd

Whiting facility

in Indiana, the Midwest's largest refinery, has been shut. given that the start of February due to a power blackout.

The refinery utilization rate is a pseudo disaster,. Mizuho analyst Robert Yawger stated. Heavy upkeep is one. thing however this is extreme on the refining run rate, Yawger. included.

Oil rates turned negative after the data. Brent crude. futures were down 27 cents, or 0.3%, at $82.50 a barrel. by 11:40 a.m. ET (1640 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate. futures fell 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $77.59 a barrel.

Gasoline stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels. to 247.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared to experts'. expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel draw.?

Distillate stockpiles, that include diesel and. heating oil, fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week to. 125.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6. million-barrel drop, the EIA information revealed.

Unrefined stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery center for U.S. crude futures increased by 710,000 barrels recently,. the EIA said.

Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.2 million bpd,. EIA stated.

(source: Reuters)