Oil Prices Fall amid Surprise Build in U.S. Stockpiles

Investing.com – Oil prices fell on Thursday after data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed an unexpected build in U.S. crude stockpiles amid a surge in imports.

for September delivery fell 0.12% to $67.67 per barrel at 12:22AM ET (04:22 GMT), while for September delivery also dropped 0.21% to $72.75 for one barrel.

Inventories of U.S. crude rose by 5.836 million barrels for the week ended July 13, comparing to expectations for a draw of 3.622 million barrels, according to the data the EIA released on Wednesday.

The unexpected build in crude supplies came as imports rose by 1.635 million barrels a day (bpd) and output rose to a record 11 million bpd, the EIA said. The build in crude was limited somewhat by increased refinery activity, fuelling larger-than-expected declines in product inventories.

Meanwhile, U.S. inventories of gasoline, diesel and unexpectedly fell last week.

Gasoline inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped by 371,000 barrels, according to the EIA.

Analysts had previously forecast that gasoline stocks would be unchanged and distillate stockpiles would show a build of around 900,000 barrels.

The United States has added nearly 1 million bpd in production since November, thanks to rapid increases in shale drilling.

RBC said earlier this week that OPEC countries have limited room to address the potential supply shortage and in the next 12-18 months the market will realize the US can’t support the entire market with spare capacity.

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