Inventories data sends crude prices lower

Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday after the US Energy Information Administration issued its weekly inventories report a day late due to the President’s Day holiday on Monday.

Inventories of crude oil were up by 4.2 million barrels in the week ending 15 February according to the report, against an expected gain of 2.9 million barrels, while gasoline stockpiles added 1.1 million barrels, about the amount that had been anticipated.

Distillates in storage, on the other hand, were down by 4.5 million barrels during the week, much more than the 1.5 million barrel decline that had been expected.

April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped $1.30 to $98.40 per barrel near the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nymex March gasoline dropped 2 cents to $2.56 per gallon while April heating oil was also down 2 cents to $2.72 per gallon and April natural gas had fallen 5 cents to $8.92 per million British thermal units.

Refinery usage was down 1.6 percent last week to 83.5 percent of capacity, a much larger drop than the 0.1 percent that was expected.

Meanwhile, at-the-pump prices for gasoline in the United States were up more than 3 cents overnight to a national average of around $3.09 per gallon.