NEW YORK NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and gasoline inventories rose sharply in the week Oct. 10 as demand continued to fall, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday.
Distillate inventories fell slightly while refinery utilization rose.
U.S. crude oil prices tumbled after the release of the data.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM EIA REPORT (In million barrels):
- Crude +5.6 (forecast +1.9)
- Distillate -0.5 (forecast +0.6)
- Gasoline +7.0 (forecast +2.9)
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ANALYST COMMENTS
TIM EVANS, ENERGY ANALYST FOR CITI FUTURES PERSPECTIVE, NEW YORK
'The build in crude oil was larger than expected, with another strong week of imports. Cushing stocks rose 500,000 million barrels, relieving some tightness there.
'Gasoline stocks also jumped more than expected, with the 7.0 million barrel build coming on stronger refinery production and similar strong imports to the prior week.
'Distillate stocks fell 500,000 barrels, about what we expected, although supportive relative to market expectations for a build. Overall, though, the data was clearly bearish, and bearish for the gasoline crack spread.'
MARK KELLSTROM, ANALYST, STRATEGIC ENERGY RESEARCH, SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY
'From what I can see the numbers look bearish. I'd argue it's already discounted in the price of crude, but it's probably going to make people nervous.
'I would say it's consistent with inventory builds after Katrina and Rita and Ivan and other hurricanes, but there's no doubt it's a big build.'
AMANDA KURZENDOERFER, COMMODITIES ANALYST, SUMMIT ENERGY, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
'I think it's still a demand story, we're moving lower following the report. We saw some very large builds in gasoline and crude oil for the second week in a row, this confirms the fact that demand is truly weakening in the United States.
This has really been the dominant theme in the market for a while -- we're seeing an extension of that.
'The increase in refinery utilization was pretty much in line with expectations, but we could see starting to top out soon with margins as low as they are.'
