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US crude stockpiles rise; oil prices extend declines

US crude stockpiles rise; oil prices extend declines

US crude stockpiles unexpectedly rise; oil prices extend slide

Mubasher: US crude oil inventories rose by 6.8 million barrels to 414.4 million barrels in the week ended 10 August, official data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.

The build-up came to the surprise of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) who expected a 2.4 million barrel drop, while data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) suggested a rise of 3.7 million barrel.

Meanwhile, total motor gasoline stockpiles declined by 700,000 barrels, and distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels, the EIA said.

US crude refinery inputs reached an average 18 million barrels per day (bpd) during the week, 383,000 bpd higher than the previous week’s average, as refineries operated at 98.1% of their operating capacity last week.

US crude imports reached an average of 9 million bpd for the same week, rising by 1.08 million bpd from the week before.

Following the release of the EIA data, US Nymex futures dropped 1.94% to $65.74 per barrel (pb), while international Brent crude futures fell 1.60% to $71.30 pb.            

By 2:34 pm GMT, Nymex futures dropped 2.86% to $65.12 pb, while Brent crude futures fell 2.62% to $70.56 pb.