U.S. crude stocks slide, fuel inventories jump in run up to Memorial Day - EIA

Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week bucking expectations for a build but inventories of fuel jumped way above forecasts, the government agency in charge of energy data said as it issued a mixed weekly report on supply-demand amid the start of peak travel for summer.

The crude inventory balance slid by 0.451 million barrels during the week to June 2, the Energy Information Administration said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Analysts tracked by Investing.com had expected the EIA to cite a crude build of 1.022 million barrels for last week, after the 4.488M barrel rise reported during the week to May 26.

The weekly draw in crude came despite a 1.9 million barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR. The Biden administration has been tapping the SPR since late 2021 to prevent extraordinary tightness in U.S. crude supply that could lead to spikes in pump prices of fuel. 

On the gasoline inventory front, however, the EIA reported a build of 2.746M. Analysts expected a build of 0.880M barrels. In the previous week, the agency reported a 0.207Mbarrel decline for gasoline, which is the No.1 U.S. fuel product.

With distillate stockpiles, the EIA said there was a surge of 5.075M barrels. Analysts had forecast a build of 1.328M barrels instead for distillates, versus the prior week’s gain of 0.985M. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships, and fuel for jets.

The latest EIA’s weekly report is particularly important for the trade as it tells of demand in the run-up to May 29 Memorial Day holiday, which unofficially flags off peak U.S. summer travel.