U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose and gasoline and distillate inventories fell more than forecast last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels to 460 million barrels in the week ending April 12, the EIA said, nearly double analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel build.
U.S. crude and gasoline futures held steady after EIA data, while heating oil futures gained.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 33,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 131,000 barrels per day (bpd) and refinery utilization rates slipped by 0.2 percentage point to 88.1% of total capacity last week.
Gasoline stocks fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 227.4 million barrels, the EIA said, more than expectations for a 900,000-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.8 million barrels to 115 million barrels, versus expectations for a 300,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.99 million barrels per day, EIA said.
U.S. imports from Mexico of crude oil fell to 208,000 bpd, the lowest on record for a second straight week.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao Editing by Marguerita Choy)