U.S. crude stocks down 4M barrels last week, fuel demand mixed - API

Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles fell again last week while fuel demand was mixed, petroleum industry group API said in a report Tuesday as the spring season advanced towards its final month before the summer, which usually sees a surge in road, air and seaborne travel.

The U.S. crude inventory balance fell by 3.939 million barrels during the week ended April 28, according to the American Petroleum Institute, or API. The petroleum industry group had reported a crude drawdown of 6.083M barrels in the prior week to April 21.

The net drawdown in crude stockpiles aside, the API noted a 0.7M barrel build itself at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude.

On the fuel side, API reported a gasoline inventory build of 0.4M barrels and a distillate stock drop of 1.0M barrels.

The API data serves as a precursor to official inventory data on the same due from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, on Wednesday.

For the week ended April 28, analysts tracked by Investing.com expect the EIA to report a crude stockpile drop of 1.100M barrels versus the previous week’s draw of 5.054M.

On the gasoline inventory front, the EIA is expected to cite a draw of 1.157M barrels versus the previous drop of 2.408M barrels for the week to April 14. Automotive fuel gasoline is the No. 1 U.S. fuel product.

With distillate stockpiles, the EIA is expected to report a 1.084M barrel draw, against a decline of 0.576M in the prior week. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships and fuel for jets.

Ahead of the API report on Tuesday, crude prices tumbled in U.S. trading on combined fears of a possible U.S. debt default and growth concerns in the world’s largest economy.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, for June delivery settled down $4, or 5.3%, at $71.66 per barrel.

London-traded Brent for July delivery finished Monday’s session down $3.99, or 5%, at $75.32.