U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week

U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week, as refinery processing rose to the highest level since the same period in 2019, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday. Crude oil processing at refineries rose by 482,000 bpd in the week, and U.S. refinery capacity utilization rose 2.7% to 95.8%, the highest level since August 2019.

U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 451,000 barrels to 459.21 million barrels in the week ended June 2, the data showed, compared with market expectations for an increase of 1 million barrels.

However, rising U.S. fuel inventories raised some concerns among market participants. For the week, U.S. gasoline inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels to 218.82 million barrels, compared with market expectations for an increase of 880,000 barrels. For the week, U.S. distillate inventories rose by 5.1 million barrels to 111.73 million barrels, compared with market expectations for an increase of 1.3 million barrels.