US gasoline stocks rise sharply, crude futures fall

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - US crude stocks fell by more than expected in the week ending April 2, dropping 3.5 million barrels to 1.136 billion barrels compared with the expectation of a 1.4-million barrel drop.

However, any potential bullish momentum was wiped out by a sharp rise in US gasoline stocks, which rose by 4 million barrels to 234.6 million barrels versus analyst expectations of a 226,000 barrel draw.

Brent crude oil futures slumped $0.70/b immediately after the announcement, while WTI fell from $59/b to $58.43/b.

Kerosene stocks showed an 800,000 barrel draw to 38.3 million barrels, while distillate fuel oil stocks rose 1.5 million barrels to 145.5 million barrels.

Total US product supply slumped to 19.236 million b/d, down from 20.3 million b/d a week earlier.

Distillate supply fell to 3.6 million b/d from 4.1 million b/d, while gasoline supply slipped to 8.78 million b/d from 8.89 million b/d.

There was also a sharp drop in the other oils category to 3.48 million b/d from 4.07 million b/d a week earlier.

Refinery utilization rates nudged higher to 84%, up 0.1% percentage points from a week earlier.

US run-rates were as low as 69% in the week to March 5.