US commercial crude inventories fell -- driven by elevated exports -- for the week ending May 29, even as high refinery utilization rates pushed domestic product inventories and jet fuel stocks to new year-to-date highs, Kpler said on Wednesday.
Nationwide commercial crude stockpiles recorded an 8-million-barrel draw for the week ending May 29, marking the sixth consecutive weekly decline, it stated.
The primary driver behind the persistent crude inventory depletion remains a highly active export market, with US crude barrels continuing to clear globally at elevated volumes, Kpler said.
Notably, gasoline inventories marked their first weekly build since February, expanding by 3.4 million barrels, while jet fuel inventories rallied to a new year-to-date high of 45.4 million barrels, it added.
Despite the weekly soft patch in consumption, longer-term demand trends remain structurally resilient, Kpler analysts said.
In the refining sector, processing runs eased marginally by 90,000 barrels per day week-over-week to average 16.9 million bpd.
However, structural capacity remained highly engaged as overall refinery utilization rates actually edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 94.7%.
Operating at the upper limit of the seasonal average, domestic refiners are entering the peak summer driving season with negligible maintenance planned through the end of the third quarter.
This sustained, high-rate production environment, combined with a temporary week-over-week cooling in consumer product demand, led to across-the-board builds in finished product segments, Kpler noted.