U.S. crude oil and fuel stockpiles rose last week, bolstered by another big release from strategic reserves, while demand slackened, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories (USOILC=ECI) rose by 3.3 million barrels in the week to July 8 to 423.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 154,000-barrel drop. Stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell nearly 7 million barrels to their lowest since August 1985. Refinery crude runs (USOICR=ECI) rose by 202,000 barrels per day in the last week, boosting utilization rates (USOIRU=ECI) by 0.4 percentage point to 94.9%. U.S. Gulf Coast utilization rates rose to 98.1% as facilities there have been running full-tilt to satiate strong demandand for overseas exports. U.S. demand tumbled in the most recent […]