U.S. crude stocks up nearly 8M barrels last week, fuel exceeds forecast too - EIA

Investing.com - U.S. crude inventories jumped almost 8 million barrels last week, way above forecast, while fuel stocks exceeded expectations as well, the agency in charge of national energy data reported, raising questions about peak summer demand typical in the coming weeks.

The U.S. crude inventory balance rose by 7.919 million barrels during the week ended June 9, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Industry analysts tracked by Investing.com had only expected a build of 1.482M barrels instead in the latest week.

In the prior week to June 2, crude stockpiles slid by 0.451 million barrels.

The crude build reported by the EIA, however, came with a small caveat: The release of 1.9M barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, without which the inventory rise would have been around 6 million.

On the gasoline inventory front, the EIA reported a build of 2.108M barrels. Analysts had expected the agency to cite a build of 0.637M barrels instead, after the previous rise of 2.746M barrels. Automotive fuel gasoline is the No. 1 U.S. fuel product.

With distillate stockpiles, the EIA reported a build of  2.123M barrels. Analysts had forecast a 0.922M barrel rise, against a decline of 5.075M in the prior week. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships, and fuel for jets.