U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week as refinery maintenance continued, while gasoline stockpiles posted a surprise draw, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels to 427.9 million barrels in the week ended February 7, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3 million-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 872,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.
Crude prices gave up some earlier losses following the report. Global benchmark Brent futures were trading $1.28 lower at $75.74 a barrel by 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down $1.30 at $72.03.
“Depressed refinery utilization rates are contributing to the crude inventory build, no doubt,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York. “Margins aren’t great, so that’s part of it,” he added.
Refinery crude runs rose by 82,000 barrels per day (bpd) while utilization rates rose by 0.5 percentage point in the week to 85% of total capacity, the EIA said.
Gasoline stocks fell by 3 million barrels in the week to 248.1 million barrels, according to the EIA, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 1.4 million-barrel build.
On the East Coast, gasoline inventories climbed to their highest since July 2021, even as overall stockpiles fell.
Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 135,000 barrels in the week to 118.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel drop.
Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, declined by 1.45 million bpd last week to 19.624 million bpd, led by a sharp drop in distillates.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 184,000 bpd, and imports from Iraq were at their lowest in a year, EIA said.
Crude exports from the U.S. declined by 422,000 bpd to 3.91 million bpd.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy)