U.S. crude steady as strong gasoline demand offset by record stocks

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures held steady in early trading on Thursday as strong demand for gasoline was offset by a new record in crude stockpiles.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $32.13 per barrel at 0047 GMT on Thursday, virtually unchanged from their last settlement.

On Wednesday, prices picked up in late trading following the release of strong gasoline demand data.

"Crude oil prices recovered lost ground overnight... Strong gasoline demand led to a stock decline," ANZ said on Thursday.

U.S. gasoline demand stood at 9.06 million barrels a day on Feb. 19 compared with 8.6 million barrels per day on Jan. 22.

 

Despite this, overall U.S. crude stockpiles rose 3.5 million barrels last week to reach an all-time peak above 507 million barrels, weighing on crude futures.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin)