U.S. crude stocks and gasoline inventories rose while distillate stockpiles fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude stocks rose by 3.4 million barrels to 422.4 million barrels in the week ended January 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 745,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 49,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates rose by 0.6 percentage points in the week to 95.3%.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 9 million barrels in the week to 251 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.6 million-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, were nearly flat compared to the prior week at 129.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.5 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 710,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver;)