Crude oil futures contracts were higher early Wednesday afternoon following the release of government data that showed another draw in U.S. crude stocks in the week ended Friday.

The NYMEX August West Texas Intermediate contract was up by $1.06 to $82.47/bbl after the Energy Information Administration numbers were issued and the September WTI contract was 88cts higher at $81.44/bbl. September Brent crude was up by 78cts to $85.44/bbl with the October contract 68cts higher at $84.57/bbl.

ULSD futures were also up, despite EIA reporting a strong rise in inventories.

The NYMEX August ULSD contract was 0.95ct higher at $2.5331/gal and the September ULSD contract was up by 0.87ct to $2.5505/gal. Gasoline futures were mixed, with the NYMEX August RBOB contract 0.05ct lower at $2.5269/gal and the September contract up by 0.34ct to $2.4938/gal.

EIA on Wednesday reported U.S.crude oil inventories fell last week by 3.4 million bbl, leaving them 4% below the five-year average. The agency estimated gasoline holdings fell last week by 2 million bbl, about 1% below the five-year average. Distillate stocks rose last week by 4.9 million bbl, but remain 8% below the five-year average.

The decline in crude stocks came as U.S. refinery utilization rose to 95.4% of capacity, up nearly two percentage points week to week.

EIA data also showed gasoline products supplied to the market - its gauge of implied demand - fell last week by about 25,000 b/d, but remained at a solid 9.398 million b/d, up by about 340,000 b/d year to year.

Implied distillate demand also fell from the previous week, but at 3.466 million b/d was about 500,000 b/d higher than in the comparable week of last year.

In U.S. spot markets, diesel and gasoline prices were mixed in early afternoon trading, with gasoline down by 2-3cts/gal in California. Diesel prices were off by 5-7cts/gal.

The price of Renewable Identification Number credits was also weakening Wednesday, with both ethanol-based D6 RINs and D4 biodiesel RINs off by 1ct.


This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.


--Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@Opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-10-24 1307ET