US gasoline stocks surge for second week; crude inventories build: EIA

[NEW YORK] US gasoline and diesel stockpiles surged with a second large weekly build and crude stocks rose more than expected in the last week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks rose by 8.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.7 million barrels gain. Last week, the stockpiles rose more than 10 million barrels, the largest build since 1993. The increase sent futures for heating oil and gasoline blendstock sharply downward.

"I think today's inventory report is all about products. Between distillate and gasoline, we've had roughly a 15 million barrel build there," said Dominic Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute. "It's pretty bearish." Crude inventories rose by 234,000 barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 2.5 million barrels.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.0 million barrels increase, the EIA data showed.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 97,000 barrels, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs fell by 194,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates fell by 1.3 percentage points.

US crude imports rose last week by 678,000 barrels per day.

REUTERS