US commercial crude stocks surged 6.696 million barrels over the week ended April 26 to hit a record high level of 395.284 million barrels, data from the Energy Information Administration showed Wednesday.
The climb, due largely to a surge in imported volumes into the Gulf Coast, burst through the previous record high of 391.907 million barrels seen during the week ending July 27, 1990.
Commercial crude stocks jumped by 7.676 million barrels along the Gulf Coast, bringing total inventories in the region to their highest level in four years at 195.494 million barrels on a surge in import volumes.
Crude imports jumped by 740,000 b/d in the Gulf Coast to 4.202 million b/d, more than accounting for the 602,000 b/d increase in imports seen nationally. Imports also rose by 183,000 b/d along the East Coast, but fell by 249,000 b/d in the Midwest.
Stocks fell by 2.652 million barrels in the Midcontinent, with a decline inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma -- the delivery-point for the NYMEX crude contract -- accounting for slightly more than half of the drop in the region. Cushing stocks fell 1.382 million barrels to 49.801 million barrels, their lowest level since the end of March.
In addition to the climb in Gulf Coast stocks, inventories rose by 952,000 barrels along the West Coast, by 559,000 barrels in the Rocky Mountain region, and by 201,000 barrels along the East Coast.
Refinery utilization jumped by 0.9 percentage point over the reporting week to 84.4% of capacity, as refiners increased crude oil inputs by 222,000 b/d to 14.710 million b/d. Utilization and crude inputs rose in four out of five reporting districts, sliding only in the Rocky Mountain region.
On the Gulf Coast, utilization rose by 0.9 percentage points to 85.8% of capacity after a power outage in Port Arthur, Texas, on April 14 curtailed refining output in the region over the previous week.
Refinery also utilization rose by 1.1 percentage points along the Atlantic Coast to 89.7%, by 1.6 percentage points in the Midcontinent to 84.5%, and by 2.1 percentage points to 78.1% along the West Coast.
Data released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday had also shown an unexpectedly large climb in US crude inventories due to a hefty increase in Gulf Coast import volumes. The API reported a 5.18 million barrel increase in crude stocks over the reporting week. Analysts polled by Platts earlier Tuesday had anticipated an increase of only 1.4 million barrels.
GASOLINE STOCKS BUILD ON EAST COAST, DROP ELSEWHERE
US gasoline inventories dropped 1.818 million barrels over the week to 215.984 million barrels, but rose by 1.175 million barrels along the Atlantic Coast, home of the New York Harbor-delivered NYMEX RBOB contract.
East Coast gasoline stocks clocked in at 61.725 million barrels. This is now 13.5% above the rolling five-year average for the week, and is the highest level in the region since the week ended March 9, 2012.
By contrast, gasoline inventories fell in the other four reporting districts, declining by a particularly sharp 2.51 million barrels in the Midwest.
The climb in East Coast gasoline inventories comes despite a small slide in imported volumes in to the region, which dropped by 28,000 b/d to 564,000 b/d.
Implied demand for the road fuel fell by 335,000 b/d to 8.415 million b/d, while production declined 209,000 b/d to 8.786 million b/d.
Distillate stocks rose 474,000 barrels to 115.752 million barrels, as imports increased by 111,000 b/d to 265,000 b/d. Inventories fell by 362,000 barrels along the East Coast, but increased in the Gulf Coast, Midcontinent, and Rocky Mountain regions. Distillate stocks were broadly unchanged along the West Coast.
Tuesday's API data showed a 2.714 million-barrel drop in US gasoline stocks and a 1.136 million-barrel drop in distillate stocks over the week. Analysts had anticipated a 900,000-barrel draw in gasoline inventories and little movement in distillate stocks.