U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories rose while gasoline inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels to 458.8 million barrels in the week ending May 17, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.5 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. futures rose by 1.3 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Brent and U.S. oil futures pared losses after the report, trading down 1% on the day.
Refinery crude runs rose by 227,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates rose by 1.3 percentage points to 91.7% of total capacity.
Gasoline stocks fell by 945,000 barrels in the week to 226.8 million barrels, the EIA said, more than forecasts for a 729,000-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 379,000 barrels in the week to 116.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 394,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
U.S. diesel futures extended losses to 0.8% following the surprise build, while U.S. gasoline futures pared losses, down 0.9%.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 676,000 bpd, EIA said.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston Editing by Marguerita Choy)