US crude stocks jumped 4.958 million barrels to 334.647 million barrels in the week that ended Friday as imports soared while demand for petroleum products dropped, data released by the US Energy Information Administration showed Wednesday.
The build in crude stocks was counter to market expectations of a 1 million-barrel draw and more than the American Petroleum Institute's 397,000-barrel increase reported late Tuesday.
The bulk of the stock increase was seen in the US Gulf Coast, where crude inventories rose 6.6 million barrels. The jump in the USGC stocks offset declines reported in the Midwest of 300,000 barrels and the US West Coast, where stocks fell 1.5 million barrels.
Stocks at the NYMEX hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell 191,000 barrels to 29.105 million barrels -- the lowest level for crude stocks at Cushing since November 13, 2009.
Cushing stocks have now fallen 500,000 barrels below the five-year average and are down more than 12 million barrels from an all-time high of 41.896 million barrels reached on April 8, 2011.
Crude stocks ramped up as imports of crude rose 883,000 b/d to 9.907 million b/d in the most recent week, remaining 541,000 b/d above the five-year average. Imports to the USGC rose the most, increasing 491,000 b/d to 5.423 million b/d.
While imports shot higher, demand for petroleum products in the US dwindled, falling 213,000 b/d to 17.811 million b/d, which is 1.147 million b/d below year-ago levels.
Refiners, however, boosted crude inputs to distillation units by 181,000 b/d to 14.937 million b/d, while utilization also increased, rising 0.6 percentage points to 85.6% of capacity.
US gasoline stocks rose 3.610 million barrels to 223.803 million barrels, more than double the pace estimated by analysts of a 1.75 million-barrel build. Inventories remain 6.48 million barrels above the five-year average.
In the USAC -- home of the New York delivery point for NYMEX RBOB -- gasoline stocks rose 1.247 million barrels, while in the Midwest, inventories rose 2 million barrels.
Total imports of gasoline plunged 290,000 b/d to 444,000 b/d, while demand for gasoline declined 377,000 b/d to 8.179 million b/d. On a four-week moving average, gasoline demand is down 4.8 million b/d from the same period a year earlier.
Distillate stocks in the US also rose, building 3.985 million barrels to 147.563 million barrels in the week that ended Friday, EIA data showed, amid a 250,000 b/d decline in demand to 3.279 million b/d.
Analysts polled by Platts were anticipating a 1.35 million-barrel increase in distillate inventories.
Distillate demand remains 290,000 b/d below year-ago levels and is off 2.2 million b/d on a four-week moving average when compared with the same period a year earlier.
The USWC led the gains in distillate stocks, rising 1.4 million barrels, followed by a 1.3 million-barrel build in the USGC. On the USAC, distillate stocks were up 700,000 barrels.
Within the distillates numbers, heating oil inventories fell 1.4 million barrels, of which, a 1.058 million-barrel decline was seen along the USAC.
