U.S. crude and gasoline stocks fell by more than expected last week as refineries ramped up activity, while distillate stocks rose, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Global Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up following the report.
Crude inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels to 445.1 million barrels in the week ended July 5, the EIA said on Wednesday, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 702,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 317,000 barrels per day, while utilization rates rose by 1.9 percentage points in the week, the EIA said.
“A rebound in refinery runs last week helped usher in a crude inventory draw,” said Kpler analyst Matt Smith.
“Despite higher refining activity, gasoline inventories drew amid ongoing strong implied demand ahead of the long holiday weekend,” Smith said.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels in the week to 229.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.6 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week to 124.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.8 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
U.S. diesel futures and gasoline futures pared losses after the report.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 615,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao)