By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week for a second consecutive build, while gasoline stocks fell as demand picked up ahead of the Independence Day holiday, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased by 7.1 million barrels to 426 million barrels in the week ended July 4, and were about 8% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 1.5 million barrel drop in crude stocks.

Oil held in the SPR increased by 238,000 barrels to 403 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, rose by 464,000 barrels to 21.2 million barrels.

Crude imports were 906,000 barrels a day lower at 6 million barrels a day, while exports rose by 452,000 barrels a day to 2.8 million barrels a day. U.S. crude oil production was estimated a little under 13.4 million barrels a day, down by 48,000 barrels a day from the week before.

Refinery capacity use slipped by 0.2 of a percentage point to 94.7%, against an expected 0.3 percentage point decline in the Journal survey. Crude oil input to refineries fell by 98,000 barrels a day to 17 million barrels a day.

Gasoline inventories were down by 2.7 million barrels at 229.5 million barrels, and were 1% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand rose by 519,000 barrels a day to 9.2 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were forecast to have fallen by 1.3 million barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks, mostly diesel, fell by 825,000 barrels to 102.8 million barrels, and were 23% below the five-year average. Distillate fuels were expected to have fallen by 400,000 barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended July 4: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates         Refinery Use 
EIA data:           7.1          -2.7           -0.8                 -0.2 
Forecast:          -1.5          -1.3           -0.4                 -0.3 
 

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 09, 2025 11:06 ET (15:06 GMT)

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