U.S. crude oil inventories edged higher while the draw in gasoline fell short of analysts' expectations last week, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Crude oil stockpiles increased by 200,000 barrels to 362.7 million barrels for the week ended May 14, versus the average survey estimate of a 300,000-barrel increase. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported an 800,000-barrel drop for last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, investors played a game of tug of war as crude oil prices were pulled back and forth from negative to positive territory. June crude contracts were recently up 0.3% at $69.62 U.S. barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month futures for gasoline were recently down 0.3% at $2.0375 U.S. a gallon and heating oil futures were down 0.1% at $1.9593 U.S. a gallon.
Petroleum product stocks showed draws last week but gasoline fell less than expected. Overall inventory levels for crude and refined products look bearish as they remain at unusually high levels even as the peak summer driving season draws near.
Gasoline stockpiles fell by 300,000 barrels to 221.8 million barrels, the department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. That compares with the forecast of a decline of 500,000 barrels based on a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 16 analysts.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, dropped by one million barrels to 152.8 million barrels. Analysts were expecting an increase of 1.2 million barrels.
Refining capacity utilization fell by 0.5 percentage point to 87.9%, slightly lower than the forecast of a 0.1-percentage point decline.
API's data indicated that gasoline inventories rose by 1 million barrels last week and distillate stocks fell by 300,000 barrels while refinery runs slipped by 1.5 percentage points to 85.9% of capacity.
