U.S. crude and distillate inventories rose while gasoline stockpiles fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3 million barrels to 426.7 million barrels in the week ended August 8, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 275,000-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 45,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Oil prices pared some losses following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $65.79 a barrel, down 33 cents at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $62.78 a barrel, off 39 cents.
Refinery crude runs rose by 56,000 barrels per day last week, while utilization rates fell by 0.5 percentage points to 96.4%, the EIA said.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 792,000 barrels in the week to 226.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 693,000-barrel draw.​
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 714,000 barrels in the week to 113.7 million barrels, in line with expectations for a 725,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 699,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Nia Williams)