U.S. crude inventories rose last week for the first time in a month, bucking analysts' expectations of a draw, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Crude oil stockpiles increased by 1.3 million barrels to 327.3 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 1 versus the forecast of a 300,000-barrel decline based on a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 11 analysts. Late Tuesday, The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, released data showing a 2.3-million barrel drop.
The rise in oil stocks reversed a four-week trend of steady draws that was fueled by cold weather and a snowstorm that swept the East Coast and other parts of the U.S. The refining industry continues to grapple with too much supply of petroleum products amid sharply lower demand due to the recession. Refinery utilizationdropped and is hovering at historic lows for this time of the year.
Gasoline stockpiles grew by 3.7 million barrels to 219.7 million barrels, the department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report, compared with the average survey estimate of a 300,000-barrel increase.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 233,000 barrels to 159.0 million barrels. Analysts were expecting a decline of 1.8 million barrels.
Refining capacity utilization slipped 0.4 percentage points to 79.9%, its lowest level in five weeks. Analysts had expected it to rise by 0.2 percentage points.
API pegged refinery utilization at 79.5%, a 1.3-percentage-point increase from the prior week. The industry group reported that inventories of gasoline expanded by 5.6 million barrels and distillates rose by 962,000 barrels.
