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 6.2 million barrels to 439.8 million barrels in the week ending March 28, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 2.4 million barrels, the EIA said.
Crude prices were little changed, despite the surprisingly large build in inventories. Global benchmark Brent futures were trading at $74.39 a barrel, down 11 cents, at 10:35 a.m. EDT (1435 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading at $71.16 a barrel, off 5 cents.
Refinery crude runs fell by 192,000 barrels per day last week, while utilization rates fell by 1 percentage point in the week to 86%, the EIA said.
Gasoline stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 237.6 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 1.7 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 300,000 barrels in the week to 114.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 999,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver Editing by Marguerita Choy)