U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week as refining activity picked up, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels to 457 million barrels in the week ending May 10, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 543,000-barrel draw.
Refinery crude runs rose by 307,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates rose by 1.9 percentage points in the week to 90.4% of total capacity, according to the EIA.
Crude futures pared losses following the report. Brent was last trading at $81.8 a barrel, down 0.7%, while U.S. crude was 0.8% lower at $77.43 a barrel.
U.S. gasoline and diesel futures also pared earlier losses, with gasoline futures turning positive after a surprise draw in inventories.
Gasoline stocks fell by 235,000 barrels in the week to 227.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 537,00-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 45,000 barrels in the week to 116.4 million barrels, versus forecasts for a 823,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 108,000 bpd, EIA said.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 341,000 barrels, the EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver Editing by Marguerita Choy)