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US Crude Stocks Fall In June as Refinery Runs Stay Near Peak, EIA Says

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US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels during the week ended June 19, as refinery throughput slowed and domestic stockpiles remained well below their five-year historical averages, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

The EIA said the decline brought commercial crude inventories to 412.1 million barrels, leaving stocks 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Refining activity saw a slight pullback, with US refineries processing 17.1 million barrels per day of crude oil, down 81,000 b/d from the previous week. The EIA said that, despite the dip, refinery capacity utilization remained robust at 96.1%.

On the supply side, crude oil imports rose by 436,000 b/d to 5.6 million b/d. However, the four-week average of imports remains 4% lower than the year-ago level.

Product inventories saw divergent trends. Gasoline stocks grew by 2.1 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 3.1 million barrels.

The EIA said despite these builds, both gasoline and distillate stocks remain 5% and 10% below their respective five-year averages. Propane/propylene stocks climbed by 2.6 million barrels, leaving them 35% above the five-year average.

On the demand side, the agency said total product supplied over the past four weeks averaged 20.5 million b/d, up 2% from a year earlier.

Gasoline implied demand fell 3% year-on-year to 8.8 million b/d, while distillate demand rose 3% to 3.6 million b/d. Jet fuel demand increased 1% compared with the same period last year.

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