UPDATE 2-U.S. crude stocks fall, gasoline up again-EIA
(adds table)
------ API ------ ------ EIA ------
Stocks Change Change Stocks Change Change
07/18/08 from from 07/18/08 from from
pvs wk yr-ago pvs wk yr-ago Crude 304.8 1.1 -39.0 295.3 -1.6 -50.6 Distillate 126.6 0.5 -0.8 128.1 2.4 0.7 Gasoline 213.8 -1.2 7.6 217.1 2.9 12.2 Heating oil 30.4 0.8 -4.4 31.2 1.2 -3.7 RFG gasoline 2.0 0.1 -0.2 2.2 0.0 -0.1 Kerosene 40.0 0.2 -0.5 40.0 1.0 -1.6 Crude runs (bpd) 15.1 -0.6 -0.3 15.1 -0.4 -0.7 Refinery runs
(percent) 87.9 -3.5 -2.9 87.1 -2.4 -4.6 Products supplied
(4-week moving average)--------------- 20.3 -0.0 -0.7 ============================================================================== Click here for interactive graph: here
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline stocks rose above normal levels last week as demand stayed weak, while crude oil stocks dropped after a sharp decline in imports, a government report showed on Wednesday.
U.S. gasoline stocks climbed 2.9 million barrels to 217.1 million barrels in the week to July 18, the Energy Information Administration reported. U.S. gasoline stocks are now above the average range for this time of year, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy said.
The rise in gasoline stocks came despite a large decline in refinery utilization, which dropped 2.4 percentage points to 87.1 percent of capacity.
U.S. crude oil imports were also down sharply, falling 985,000 barrels per day to average 9.806 million bpd. That drop contributed to the larger-than-expected 1.6 million barrel decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories, which now stand at 295.3 million barrels.
"This looks like another pretty bearish report with a large build in distillates and gasoline," said Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst at optionsXpress in Chicago.
Inventories of distillate fuel, a category that covers heating oil and diesel, were also up, rising 2.4 million barrels to 128.1 million barrels, the EIA said. Steady increases have pushed distillate fuel stocks into the upper end of the average range for this time of year, the EIA said.
High retail fuel prices have been cutting into demand for motor fuels. Average implied U.S. gasoline demand over the last four weeks was down 2.4 percent over the same period last year at 9.348 million bpd, the EIA said.
Total average implied U.S. oil demand in the same period was down 2.1 percent at 20.253 million bpd.
In a separate report released Wednesday, American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported that crude oil and distillate stocks rose in the week to July 18 while gasoline stocks fell.
U.S. crude stocks rose by 1.14 million barrels to 304.8 million barrels and distillate stocks rose 538,000 barrels to 126.6 million barrels, according to the API report. Gasoline stocks were down 1.19 million barrels at 213.8 million barrels. (Reporting by Robert Campbell; Editing by David Gregorio)
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