Crude Up Following Data: Oil Alert
NEW YORK (
) -- Processing cutbacks at refineries showed up in government statistics this week, as figures showed that crude stockpiles grew more than expected -- though that move was coupled with a surprising drop in gasoline inventories.
According to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, crude stockpiles swelled by 2.8 million barrels last week to 338.4 million barrels. Analysts surveyed by Platts expected the inventory levels to grow by 2.1 million barrels.
Distillate fuels, along with propane and propylene products, too, increased by 300,000 and 800,000 barrels, each.
But the real surprise may be in the 1.6 million barrel drop in gasoline stockpiles. Analysts, instead, expected gasoline supplies to build by 1.2 million barrels.
Soon after the release, NYMEX crude for November delivery was rising by $1.56 at $68.27.
Still, all of the weekly supply movements are occurring on top of already high inventory levels compared to last year.
Just before the release, an array of data reports gave a wide mix of assessments about the economy. The Commerce Department revised its quarterly gross domestic product figure, which showed the
economy shrinking still less than expected.
But a private sector unemployment report showed that employers slashed
254,000 jobs from their payrolls in September.
That was coupled with somewhat troubling news out of the manufacturing sector that found the
Chicago Purchasing Managers Index slumping below estimates to 46.1. In August, the metric hit 50.0, while a reading below that denotes a shrinking economy.
Elsewhere, major integrated oil stocks were sliding.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
shares were down 50 cents, or 0.7%, at $68.57.
ConocoPhillips
(COP) - Get Report
,
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
and
Marathon Oil
(MRO) - Get Report
were also tracking back, declining by 0.8%, 1% and 0.6%, respectively.
American depositary receipts for
BP
(BP) - Get Report
and
Royal Dutch Shell
(RDS.A)
were also slumping in the last morning, losing 0.8% and 1.3%, each.
-- Written by Sung Moss in New York
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