New York (Platts)--22Aug2012/603 pm EDT/2203 GMT

NYMEX crude and products futures settled higher Wednesday after receiving a late boost from the release of US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes from earlier in August.

NYMEX October crude settled 42 cents higher at $97.26/barrel. Products ended higher as well, with September RBOB gasoline -- the strongest performer throughout the day -- settling 3.9 cents higher at $3.1042/gal. Heating oil futures settled 44 points higher at $3.1287/gal.

On ICE, October Brent futures settled 27 cents higher at $114.91/b.

The release of the FOMC minutes seemed to coincide with a late-day burst of buying activity, as many in the market perceived the minutes suggesting the US Federal Reserve was moving closer to acting on further monetary easing. But not all analysts were convinced.

"There's nothing really new in the FOMC minutes, despite the headlines," said Tradition Energy analyst Gene McGillian. "I don't think much will happen from the Fed until after the election," he added, referring to the upcoming US presidential election in November.

But McGillian conceded that the FOMC minutes likely added strength to a market that had been consolidating after the US Energy Information Administration released its weekly oil data report at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) Wednesday.

The EIA data showed US crude stocks falling 5.4 million barrels to 360.75 million barrels, which pushed NYMEX October crude to an intraday high of $97.49/b around 12:00 p.m. EDT. However, the move up was short-lived as crude drifted lower ahead of the FOMC announcement.

Gulf Coast stocks led the overall decline, falling 2.42 million barrels to 178.21 million barrels -- the region's lowest mark since the week ending March 30 -- as imports plummeted 967,000 b/d to 4.04 million b/d, mostly due to an overall 691,000 b/d decline in Saudi imports and 289,000 b/d decline in Venezuelan imports.

RBOB FUTURES STRONG ON CONTINUED TIGHT SUPPLY

September RBOB was the strongest element in the complex Wednesday, as US gasoline stocks declined a bullish 962,000 barrels to 202.74 million barrels in the latest reporting week, led by a 2.19 million-barrel decline in Gulf Coast stocks.

Gulf Coast refinery utilization took a 3.6 percentage point hit, dropping runs to 90.6% of capacity as inputs declined 327,000 b/d. However, Gulf Coast ULSD stocks jumped by 2.32 million barrels to 32.013 million barrels, suggesting in part that the region's refineries were focused less on gasoline and more on ULSD for export, as well as for domestic supply ahead of the upcoming US winter.

However, it is really the continued tightness in Atlantic Coast gasoline stocks that likely has the most direct impact on New York Harbor-delivered NYMEX RBOB futures. Atlantic Coast gasoline stocks fell 321,000 barrels to 49.58 million barrels, the lowest gasoline stocks have been in the region in 2012.

In a small sign of the tightness easing, the differential to the EIA five-year average narrowed slightly compared with the last reporting period, to minus 11.28% from minus 12.09%.

--James Bambino, james_bambino@platts.com
--Edited by Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron_greenhalgh@platts.com

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