(New York) U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels in the week ended June 21, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a period marked by a slowdown in demand.
This increase in commercial reserves contrasts with the expectations of analysts, who expected a drop of 2.8 million barrels, according to a consensus established by the Bloomberg agency.
The gap is linked, in part, to the deceleration in activity at American refineries, whose capacities were used at 92.2% last week, compared to 93.5% previously. This is the third consecutive drop in power.
Matt Smith, Kpler analyst, also noted the decrease in exports (-11% over one week), attributable, according to him, to weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, which disrupted maritime traffic.
The region thus saw the first tropical storm of the season, called Alberto, which affected part of Texas.
The decline in exports was partially offset by lower crude imports (-6%).
The EIA report also highlighted a contraction in the volumes of refined products delivered to the American market (-1.8%), considered an implicit indicator of demand in the United States.
The movement was particularly marked for gasoline, down 4.4% over a week and whose volumes fell back below the symbolic threshold of nine million barrels per day.
Kerosene (-1.2%) and the distilled products category (-11.1%), which includes diesel, also fell.
Gasoline stocks rose by 2.7 million barrels, while analysts had forecast a reduction of 1.5 million barrels.
Matt Smith nevertheless expects gasoline reserves to decrease this week, as the long weekend of July 4, the American national holiday, approaches.
As for crude production, it remained unchanged at 13.2 million barrels per day.
The publication of the EIA weakened oil prices, which were initially moving in the green. Around 11:05 a.m., a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in August lost 0.37%, to $80.53.