U.S. crude oil inventories increased for the first time in 10 weeks as exports fell and refineries lowered their capacity use, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 3.5 million barrels to 415.1 million barrels last week. The stocks were about 6% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA says.
Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted crude stockpiles would increase by 1.1 million barrels.
The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.2 million barrels a day, down by 237,000 barrels a day. Crude imports fell by 297,000 barrels a day to 6.4 million barrels a day, and exports were down by 829,000 barrels a day at 3.7 million barrels a day.
Refinery capacity use fell to 83.5% from 85.9% in a third consecutive weekly decline. Refinery runs were forecast to fall by 0.7 of a percentage point.
