U.S. crude stocks rose as refining activity slipped last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 5.8 million barrels to 422.7 million barrels in the week ended October 4, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.2 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Oil futures pared some losses, despite the large build in stockpiles. Global Brent futures were trading at $75.98 a barrel, down $1.20 at 10:50 a.m. EDT (1450 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading at $72.43 a barrel, off $1.15.
Refinery crude runs fell by 101,000 barrels per day, while utilization rates fell by 0.9 percentage points to 86.7% in the week, according to the EIA.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 6.3 million barrels in the week to 214.9 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week to 118.5 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.9 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 305,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)