US Crude Inventories Rise Amid Increased Refinery Activity
US crude and gasoline inventories have seen an increase in recent weeks, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA reported on Wednesday that crude oil stocks rose by 4.4 million barrels to 428.8 million barrels for the week ending August 14.
The Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub saw a decline of 1.3 million barrels in its crude stockpiles, contradicting the overall trend. Refinery crude runs experienced an increase of 216,000 barrels per day, while utilization rates rose by 1 percentage point to 97.2%.
Gasoline stocks also showed growth, rising by 0.7 million barrels to 209.4 million barrels for the week. However, distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.5 million barrels to 105.6 million barrels.