WTI futures hold near 6-year lows as US inventories hit new record

West Texas Intermediate crude traded near the lowest level in six years after government data showed that US crude stockpiles soared for a tenth week, while output reached the highest in more than three decades. Brent slipped as well.

US crude for delivery in May traded 2.01% lower at $44.28 per barrel at 14:58 GMT, having earlier fallen to a six-year low of $44.03. The contract slid 2.04% on Tuesday to $45.19 a barrel, a sixth straight daily loss. The April contract expires on March 20th.

Meanwhile on the ICE, Brent for settlement in the same month was down 0.32% at $53.34 per barrel, having ranged between $53.86 and $52.68 during the day. The European crude benchmark fell 0.8% yesterday to $53.51 after it earlier touched $52.57, the lowest since February 2nd. Brent traded at a premium of $9.06 to its US counterpart, widening from Tuesday’s close at $8.32.

The EIA largely confirmed private data by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday that showed a much larger-than-expected jump in crude supplies. Inventories surged by 9.622 million barrels to 458.5 million, the highest in at least 80 years, sharply exceeding a projected gain of 3.75 million barrels. Supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub jumped to 54.4 million barrels from 51.5 a week earlier, the most on weekly data spanning back to April 2004.

US crude production increased by 53 000 barrels per day to 9.419 million bpd, the highest on weekly records tracked since January 1983. Crude imports rose by 703 000 bpd to 7.496 million from a week earlier, while the four-week average of inbound shipments stood at 7.234 million bpd, 0.6% above year-ago levels.

Refineries operated at 88.1% of their operable capacity, slightly up from 87.8% the previous seven-day period. Both gasoline and distillate fuel output increased, averaging 9.8 and 4.8 million barrels per day, respectively.

Motor gasoline inventories declined by 4.473 million barrels to 235.4 million, well above projections for a 0.88-million drop, while distillate fuel stocks rose by 0.38 million barrels to 125.9 million, defying forecasts for a drop of 1.08 million barrels.