US crude stocks down 4.4M barrels, adjusting to previous huge build- API

Investing.com - US crude stockpiles possibly fell as much as 4.4 million barrels last week, suggesting exports had picked up again after a slack in the previous week that led to a huge build, petroleum trade group API reported Tuesday.

Declines were also seen in inventories of gasoline, the premier US fuel product and, distillates — a feedstock for diesel and heating fuel, the weekly inventory report from the API, or American Petroleum Institute, showed.

Typically at this time of year, demand for fuels is softer in the United States as fewer families do trip roads with their children back in school or college. But with the refinery industry on seasonal maintenance, larger-than-usual declines in fuel stocks are also common with limited replenishments coming in.

The U.S. crude inventory balance fell by 4.383M barrels during the week ended Oct. 13, according to the API. That contrasted with a 12.94M jump in the prior week to Oct. 6 led largely by a sharp decline in exports.

Aside from that balance, the API also noted a 1.005M barrel decline at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude, versus the previous week’s draw of 0.547M. Cushing storage levels have dropped drastically this year, prompting concerns they might reach such critical lows to complicate operations at the storage hub.

On the fuel side, the petroleum trade group reported a gasoline inventory slide of 1.578M barrels and distillate stock drop of 0.612M barrels. In the prior week, gasoline saw a 3.645-M barrel build while distillates experienced a 3.535M drop.

The API data serves as a precursor to official inventory data on the same due from the US Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) Information Administration, or EIA, on Wednesday.

For last week, analysts tracked by Investing.com expect the EIA to report a crude stockpile drop of 1.4 million barrels, versus the 10.176M-barrel build reported during the week to Oct 6.

On the gasoline inventory front, the consensus is for a draw of 1.0M barrels, in addition to the 1.313M-barrel decline in the previous week. Automotive fuel gasoline is the No. 1 U.S. fuel product.

With distillate stockpiles, the expectation is for a drop of 1.0 million barrels, on top of the prior week’s deficit of 1.837M. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships and fuel for jets.