U.S. oil prices fell on Wednesday after government data showed a build in inventories and record-high crude production. Reports that the OPEC+ group of producers have failed to agree on any additional production cuts and delayed their weekend meeting also put pressure on the commodity.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude futures lost 67 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $77.10 a barrel yesterday.

We believe that oil’s ongoing descent allows long-term-oriented market participants to buy shares in quality companies at attractive prices. Investors interested in the sector could benefit from having stocks like Delek US Holdings (DK Quick QuoteDK - Free Report) , EOG Resources (EOG Quick QuoteEOG - Free Report) and Murphy Oil (MUR Quick QuoteMUR - Free Report) .

Let's dig deep into EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending Nov 17.

Analyzing the Latest EIA Report

Crude Oil: The federal government’s EIA report revealed that crude inventories rose 8.7 million barrels compared to expectations of a 100,000 barrels increase per the analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The stockpile build with the world’s biggest oil consumer was largely thanks to the sustained strength in imports and continued high domestic production, which, at 13.2 million barrels per day, is the highest on record.  

Total domestic stock now stands at 448.1 million barrels — 3.8% above the year-ago figure of 431.7 million barrels but 1% less than the five-year average.

The latest report also showed that supplies at the Cushing terminal (the key delivery hub for U.S. crude futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange) gained 858,000 barrels to 25.9 million barrels — the highest since September.

Meanwhile, the crude supply cover increased from 28.8 days in the previous week to 29.2 days. In the year-ago period, the supply cover was 26.8 days.

Let’s turn to the products now.

Gasoline: Gasoline supplies increased after falling in the previous two weeks. The 750,000-barrel rise was primarily attributable to softening demand and stronger imports. Analysts had forecast that gasoline inventories would gain 1.1 million barrels. At 216.4 million barrels, the current stock of the most widely used petroleum product is 2.6% more than the year-earlier level, while it is 2% below the five-year average range.

Distillate: Distillate fuel supplies (including diesel and heating oil) fell for the eighth straight week. The 1 million-barrel decrease mainly reflected robust consumption and a pullback in imports. Meanwhile, the market looked for a supply drop of 400,000 barrels. Following last week’s draw, current inventories — at 105.6 million barrels — are 3.2% below the year-ago level and 13% lower than the five-year average.

Refinery Rates: Refinery utilization, at 87%, rose 0.9% from the prior week.

3 Energy Stocks to Buy

Having gone through the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, investors interested in the energy space might consider the operators mentioned below. Each of these companies currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Delek US Holdings: DK beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters at an average of 34.2%.

Delek US Holdings is valued at around $1.7 billion. DK has seen its shares move down 19.5% in a year.

EOG Resources: EOG Resources beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and missed in the other. EOG has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.2%, on average.

EOG Resources is valued at around $72.5 billion. EOG has seen its shares drop 12.9% in a year.

Murphy Oil: Over the past 60 days, Murphy Oil saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 move up 11.5%. MUR beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters.

Murphy Oil is valued at around $6.6 billion. MUR has seen its shares lose 9.9% in a year.