U.S. crude and distillate inventories rose while gasoline stocks fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels to 420.7 million barrels in the week ended August 29, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs fell by 11,000 barrels per day, the EIA said. Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.3 percentage points in the week to 94.3%.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 3.8 million barrels in the week to 218.5 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, rose by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 115.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 434,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney in Houston)