US crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 3 million barrels to 426.4 million barrels in the week ended September 18, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 641,000-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 2.2 million barrels in the week to 23.7 million barrels, the EIA said.
Oil futures were little changed following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $101.64 a barrel, up $2.39, at 10:37 a.m. ET (1437 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.31 a barrel to $91.83.
Refinery crude runs fell by 519,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 2.8 percentage points in the week to 94%.
US gasoline stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 206 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.1 million-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 0.4 million barrels in the week to 107.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Net US crude imports rose last week by 369,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Andrea Ricci )