US crude and gasoline stocks fell last week, while distillate inventories rose, the US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels in the week ended October 16, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 820,000-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose 987,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Oil inventories moved into positive territory following the larger-than-expected decline in stockpiles. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $109.16 a barrel, up 37 cents, at 10:42 a.m. ET (1432 GMT), while the US West Texas Intermediate contract was up 3 cents to $97.85 a barrel.
Refinery crude runs rose by 34,000 barrels per day in the week the EIA said.
Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.1 percentage points in the week to 93.4%.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 2.95 million barrels in the week to 205.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 443,000-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.68 million barrels in the week to 104.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.16 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose by 837,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)