HOUSTON, Feb 19 –
U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 9 million barrels to 419.8 million barrels in the week ended February 13, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel rise. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1.1 million barrels, the EIA said. Refinery crude runs rose by 77,000 barrels per day in the week ended February 13, the EIA said.
Refinery utilization rates rose by 1.6 percentage points in the week to 91%.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week to 255.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 4.6 million barrels in the week to 120.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.4 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.13 million bpd, EIA said.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston)