WTI futures below $48 as US crude inventories jump

West Texas Intermediate crude hovered near a 1-1/2-month low after data by the Energy Information Administration showed US crude oil inventories continued to expand, while output hit the highest in more than three decades.

WTI crude for delivery in April traded 1.10% lower at $47.76 per barrel at 16:06 GMT, shifting in a daily range between $49.05 and $47.33, the lowest since January 30th. The contract tumbled 3.4% on Tuesday to $48.29.

Meanwhile on the ICE, Brent for settlement in the same month was up 1.28% to trade at $57.11 a barrel, holding in a daily range of $57.30-$55.92. The European crude benchmark slid 3.7% yesterday to $56.39, settling at a premium of $8.10 to its US counterpart. The gap widened to $9.35 on Wednesday.

The government agency reported that US crude supplies jumped by 4.512 million barrels in the seven days through March 6th to 448.9 million, the highest in at least 80 years. This compared to analysts projections for a jump of 4.44 million barrels and a 0.404-million drop reported by the American Petroleum Institute yesterday. Supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub rose to 51.5 million barrels from 49.2 million a week earlier.

US crude oil production increased by 42 000 barrels per day to 9.366 million, the highest on weekly statistics stretching back to January 1983. Crude oil imports fell by 575 000 bpd to 6.793 million, while the four-week average of imports was at 7.136 million bpd, 1.2% below year-ago levels.

Refineries operated at 87.8% of their operable capacity, up from 86.6% last week. Gasoline production decreased to 9.2 million barrels per day last week, while distillate fuel output increased to 4.8 million bpd.

Motor gasoline inventories fell by 0.187 million barrels to 239.9 million, trailing analysts projections for a drop of 1.69 million. Distillate fuel stockpiles rose by 2.527 million barrels to 125.5 million, rebutting forecasts for a 2.57-million drop.