WTI futures steady after EIA crude inventories data

West Texas Intermediate crude fell to session lows after the EIA reported that US crude stockpiles rose last week to a new record. However, prices drew support on better-than-expected China and US data, while Saudi Arabias oil minister said oil demand is growing and markets are calm.

US crude for delivery April traded 0.12% lower at $49.22 per barrel at 15:42 GMT. Prices tumbled to a session low of $48.43 after the data were published but were swift to recover to pre-release levels. The contract slid 0.34% on Tuesday to $49.28 a barrel, a fifth consecutive daily loss.

Meanwhile on the ICE, Brent for settlement in the same month stood at $59.24 per barrel, up 0.99% on the day, holding in a daily range of $59.57-$58.41. The European crude benchmark fell 0.41% on Tuesday to $58.66, settling at a premium of $9.38 to its US counterpart. The gap widened to $10.02 on Wednesday.

US crude stockpiles surged by 8.427 million barrels in the seven days through February 20th to 434.1 million, the highest for this time of the year in at least 80 years. Analysts had projected an increase of 3.98 million barrels. Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub rose to 48.7 million barrels from 46.3 million a week ago, the highest in at least a year.

Domestic crude production jumped by 5 000 barrels per day to 9.285 million bpd, the highest on weekly statistics dating back to January 1983. Crude oil imports rose by 174 000 bpd to 7.279 million bpd last week, while the four-week average of imports stood at 7.264 million, 0.7% below year-ago levels.

US refineries operated at 87.4% of their operable capacity, down from 88.7% a week earlier, with both gasoline and distillate fuel output increasing, to 9.7 and 4.7 million barrels per day, respectively.

Motor gasoline inventories slid by 3.118 million barrels to 240.0 million, exceeding projections for a drop of 1.47 million. Distillate fuel stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.711 million barrels to 124.7 barrels, compared to expectations for a 3.05-million decline.