US inventories see rise in crude stockpiles

The weekly US crude oil inventory data showed crude oil stockpiles were up by 200,000 barrels in the week ending July 29 but that gasoline stockpiles were down.

The rise in crude oil inventories came mostly on an increase of 11 million barrels per day in imports. Gasoline inventories were down substantially more than expected, falling by 4 million barrels on the week.

This decline was partly attributed to drops in domestic output, and sent September delivery gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange up by 1.34 cents to $1.7940 per gallon. Distillate inventories were up by 1.5 million barrels on the week, the twelfth weekly increase in a row.

Crude oil prices were down on the inventories data, after having been up in early trading. West Texas Intermediate for September delivery closed at $60.86 per barrel, down $1.03 from Tuesday’s close, after having gone as high as $62.50 during the day.

Brent crude on the International Petroleum Exchange closed down by 97 cents at $59.65 per barrel after rising to $61.26 earlier. The higher prices before the release of inventories figures was due in large part to an increased estimate of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes expected this season.