Petroleum futures were mostly higher at midday Wednesday, with prices little affected by mixed stock and demand data from the Energy Information.
Crude futures were leading the way higher, with both U.S. and European benchmarks posting strong gains.
The Nymex August West Texas Intermediate contract was up $1.78 at $82.54/bbl at about 11:45 a.m. ET, about 10cts below the morning high. The more-active September WTI contract was $1.49 higher at $81.19/bbl. The September Brent crude contract was up $1.15 to $84.88/bbl and the October contract was $1.02 higher at $83.82/bbl.
Gasoline futures traded within a narrow band in the morning session, putting the NYMEX August RBOB contract up 1.84cts to $2.4959/gal, about a half cent off earlier highs. The September RBOB contract was ahead by 1.79cts to $2.4636/gal.
ULSD futures were mixed, with a wide range between the front-month and next-month contracts. The NYMEX August ULSD contract was 1.33cts higher at $2.4821/gal, also about a half cent off the morning's high. The more-active September contract was off by 1.04cts to $2.4738/gal, about 3cts below earlier highs.
EIA on Wednesday reported a 4.9 million bbl drop in U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended Friday. That left stocks about 5% below the five-year average. The decline came even as U.S. refinery activity weakened last week to 93.7% from 95.4%, in large part due to a 5% week-to-week drop in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Beryl's passage early last week.
Despite the lower utilization rate, EIA estimated U.S. gasoline stocks rose last week by 3.3 million bbl, leaving them slightly above the five-year average. The agency estimated domestic distillate holdings rose last week by 3.5 million bbl, but remained about 7% below the five-year average.
One reason for the increase in inventories could be weaker demand. EIA put implied gasoline demand last week at 8.783 million b/d, down about 600,000 bbl week to week and about 80,000 b/d below the comparable week of last year. Distillate demand, however, rose last week by about 120,000 b/d to 3.585 million b/d.
U.S. spot gasoline and diesel prices were higher. Cash gasoline values in Chicago were up by about 10cts/gal, while diesel prices were about 14cts/gal higher. Both fuels, however, continue to be priced at discounts to futures.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-17-24 1249ET
