Crude oil stocks rise 4.175 million barrels; Product demand lowest in 13 yearsNew York - February 1, 2012US crude oil stocks rose 4.175 million barrels last week, as imports increased and total product demand softened, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed Wednesday. At 338.942 million barrels, crude stocks are 3.6% above the five-year average. Analysts projected a build of 3 million barrels. The EIA figure is more than double the 2.067 million barrel increase reported late Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute. Crude stocks jumped 3.3 million barrels along the U.S. Gulf Coast and by 1.5 million barrels in the Midwest, the EIA said. At Cushing, Oklahoma – home of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s (NYMEX) crude oil futures contract – stocks were up 1.476 million barrels to 30.123 million barrels, moving some 1.542 million barrels above the five-year average. Crude imports rose a marginal 27,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 8.880 million b/d, while refiners in the U.S. lowered inputs by 89,000 b/d to 14.217 million b/d. Refinery utilization declined by 0.4 percentage points to 81.8% of capacity, the EIA data showed. At 17.653 million b/d, product demand fell to its lowest level since May 1999. This weakened demand was key driver behind the crude stock rise. Product demand dropped 1.587 million b/d from the previous reporting week (ending January 20), and was off by more than 1.134 million b/d from the corresponding week in 2011. US gasoline demand fell by 131,000 b/d to 7.967 million b/d last week – its weakest level since just after the September 11, 2001, terror attack on the United States. EIA data showed a 3.017 million barrel rise in U.S. gasoline stocks to 230.147 million barrels, boosted by a 2.7 million barrel increase in stocks on the U.S. Atlantic Coast (USAC) – home of the NYMEX-delivered RBOB contract. The EIA gasoline inventory figure ran counter to API's 222,000-barrel drop. Analysts estimated that gasoline stocks would rise 1 million barrels. US distillate stocks fell a marginal 135,000 barrels to 145.410 million barrels, EIA data showed, as demand ticked lower, dropping 150,000 b/d to 3.736 million b/d last reporting week. Demand is 367,000 b/d less than the five-year average. Heating stocks on the USAC fell 1.704 million barrels, dipping about 8 million barrels below the five-year average. At the same time, total heating oil production rose 24,000 b/d to 428,000 b/d. Stocks of ultra low sulfur diesel rose 700,000 barrels to 105.9 million barrels, EIA data showed. # # # About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for those markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in 150 countries benefit from Platts’ coverage of the oil, petrochemicals, natural gas, electricity,coal, nuclear power, shipping, and metals markets. A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Platts has approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide.
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