Houston (Platts)--5Sep2013/110 pm EDT/1710 GMT

US fuel oil imports rose by more than three-quarters to 239,000 b/d for the reporting week ended Friday, Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday.

Total imports increased by 103,000 b/d on the week, despite imports to the Gulf Coast, the country's largest fuel oil market, declining 48,000 b/d to 54,000 b/d.

The rise stemmed from increases on both the Atlantic Coast, where imports climbed 68,000 b/d to 97,000 b/d, and the West Coast, where imports rose to 81,000 b/d from only 2,000 b/d the week before.

Production also increased overall, rising 21,000 b/d to 386,000 b/d, spurred by an increase of 33,000 b/d to 201,000 b/d in the Gulf Coast region.

US fuel oil stocks grew by 700,000 barrels to 35.6 million barrels.

Both the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast added 300,000 barrels, reaching 9.4 million barrels on the Atlantic Coast and 19.8 million barrels on the Gulf Coast.

The West Coast added the remaining 100,000 barrels.

--Travis Whalen, travis.whalen@platts.com
--Edited by John-Laurent Tronche, john-laurent.tronche@platts.com; Katharine Fraser, katharine.fraser@platts.com

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