US crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels in the week ended October 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 288,000-barrel draw.
“This is definitely a hurricane report…. There was nobody bringing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, avoided that like the plague last week with the hurricane spinning around,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 135,000 barrels per day, the EIA said. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.8 percentage points in the week to 93.5%.
Crude oil futures and diesel futures largely held steady after the report, while gasoline futures extended losses after a surprise build.
US West Texas Intermediate crude traded 43.07, or 3.2%, higher at $98.16 at 12:16 p.m. ET, while Brent crude futures 15 cents, or 0.1% at $106.21 a barrel.
US gasoline stocks rose by 3.5 million barrels in the week to 208.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.5 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week to 102.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
“Weaker implied demand for gasoline drove a stock build, while stronger implied demand for diesel drove on a draw,” said Matt Smith, director of commodities research at Kpler.
Net US crude imports fell last week by 596,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)