U.S. crude stocks fell by nearly 13 million barrels in the most recent week, the most since 2019, as refiners continued to boost activity to counter low U.S. inventories headed into winter heating season.

Crude inventories fell by 12.6 million barrels in the week to Nov. 25 to 419.1 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.8 million-barrel drop.

The sharp drop comes as the United States is effectively finished with its unprecedented release of 180 million barrels of strategic reserves throughout the year. That release was meant to keep a lid on price to offset supply tightness stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on the giant oil exporter from the United States and its allies.

Refinery crude runs rose by 228,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said, boosting overall refinery utilization rates to 95.2% of overall capacity; Gulf Coast refiners are at 98%, so they are processing about as much crude as they are able.

“The refiners are doing everything they can to increase distillate inventories but you can see the refiners are really struggling to keep up with demand,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week, exceeding expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel rise. Similarly, distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.5 million barrels, ahead of a forecast 1.5 million-barrel rise.

Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.73 million barrels per day, EIA said.

Crude futures were up on the day, but actually reduced some of their gains after the release. Brent crude was up $2.15, or 2.6%, to $85.18 a barrel while U.S. crude gained $2.03, or 2.6%, to $80.23 a barrel as of 10:40 a.m. EST (1540 GMT).
Source: Reuters (Reporting By David Gaffen and Arathy Somasekhar)