U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week on higher export and refinery demand, while gasoline drew down for a ninth straight week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels to 440.4 million barrels in the week ended April 25, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 429,000-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for futures rose by 682,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Crude prices pared losses despite the surprise build. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 88 cents, or 1.5%, at $59.52 by 10:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT), while Brent crude fell down 96 cents, or 1.5%, at $63.29 a barrel.
The big surprise draw in crude oil was due to an increase in the refinery utilization rates and a rise in exports, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Net crude imports fell last week by 663,000 barrels per day (bpd) as exports rose by 572,000 bpd to 4.1 million bpd in the week.
Refinery crude runs rose by 189,000 bpd in the week, while refinery utilization rates rose by 0.5 percentage point to 88.6% of total capacity.
Gasoline stocks fell by 4 million barrels in the week to 225.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with forecasts for a 1 million-barrel draw.
The gasoline draw was the ninth consecutive weekly fall, the longest declining streak in the world’s top fuel-consuming nation since an 11-week slump that ended in June 2022, data showed.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 900,000 barrels in the week to 107.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, data showed.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston Editing by Marguerita Choy)