U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories rose last week, while distillate stocks fell, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels in the week to July 29 to 426.6 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 600,000-barrel drop.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. futures rose by 926,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs fell by 174,000 barrels per day, and refinery utilization rates dropped by 1.2 percentage points to 91% of total capacity.
Gasoline stocks rose by about 200,000 barrels in the week to 225.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.4 million barrels in the week to 109.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Net crude imports rose by 2.21 million bpd, the EIA said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly Editing by Marguerita Choy)