U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels to 420.3 million barrels in the week ended October 3, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel rise.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 763,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
U.S. crude oil futures held in positive territory, despite the larger-than-expected build in inventories. Global benchmark Brent futures were trading at $65.87 a barrel, up 42 cents by 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures (WTI) were up 27 cents at $62.20 a barrel.
Refinery crude runs rose by 129,000 barrels per day last week, the EIA said, while utilization rates rose by 1 percentage point to 92.4%.
Gasoline stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 219.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 911,000-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2 million barrels in the week to 121.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel drop, the data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 731,000 bpd, the EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Marguerita Choy)