WTI futures extend slide as US crude inventories hit record high

Both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude extended losses on Wednesday, paring the previous four sessions hefty gains, as data by the Energy Information Administration showed a larger-than-expected build in US crude oil inventories, while both gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles increased as well.

West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March traded 4.88% lower at $50.46 per barrel at 15:46 GMT, shortly after it fell to a session low of $50.05. The contract surged for a fourth day on Tuesday to $53.05, the highest settlement since January 1st, capping an 18.3% gain for the stretch.

Meanwhile on the ICE, Brent for delivery in the same month fell 3.51% to $55.88 per barrel, ranging between $58.06 and $55.41 during the day. The contract gained 5.77% on Tuesday to $57.91, the highest settlement since end-December. Brent traded at a premium of $5.42 to its US counterpart, up from yesterday’s close at $4.86.

The Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil stockpiles rose by 6.333 million barrels in the week ended January 30th to 413.1 million barrels, the highest for this time of the year in at least 80 years. Supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub jumped to 41.4 million barrels from 38.9 million a week earlier.

US crude output slightly eased to 9.177 million barrels per day from 9.213 million during the previous week, which was the highest on weekly data spanning back to January 1st 1983. Crude imports fell by 35 000 bpd to 7.387 million bpd, while the four-week average of inbound shipments stood at 7.380 million, 0.5% above year-ago levels.

Refineries operated at 89.9% of their operable capacity, up from 88% a week earlier. However, both gasoline and distillate fuel production fell last week, averaging 9.1 and 4.7 million barrels per day, respectively.

Motor gasoline stockpiles jumped by 2.335 million barrels to 240.7 million, compared to projections for an increase of 0.067 million, while distillate fuel inventories rose by 1.788 million barrels to 134.5 million, defying projections for a 1.833-million drop.