US crude oil stocks surge to six-week high

Oil

US commercial crude oil inventories shot up by 21.6M bbls w-o-w and 40.5M bbls y-o-y to 484.6M bbls during the week ending February 26, as stocks built for the second consecutive week to the highest level since the week ending January 15, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Total motor gasoline inventories declined by 13.6M bbls w-o-w to 243.5M bbls however, which is around 3% below the five-year average for this time of year. Refinery throughputs plummeted by 2.3M b/d w-o-w to 9.9M b/d, the lowest level on records dating back to 1982, as freezing weather along the US Gulf Coast continued to slash refinery utilisation which averaged 56% across the week. Crude oil imports jumped by 1.69M b/d w-o-w to 6.29M b/d, recovering after falling to the lowest level since February 1992 during the previous week, whereas exports edged up by 40K b/d w-o-w to 2.35M b/d.