US Crude Stocks Fall, Gasoline and Distillate Inventories rise, EIA says

(Reuters) – U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 422.9 million barrels in the week ended December 26, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 867,000-barrel draw.29dk2902l

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 543,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

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Oil futures pared earlier gains following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $61.38 a barrel, up 5 cents at 10:43 a.m. ET (1543 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were at $58 a barrel, also up 5 cents.

Refinery crude runs rose by 71,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates rose by 0.1 percentage points in the week to 94.7%.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 5.8 million barrels in the week to 234.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel build.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 5 million barrels in the week to 123.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 957,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )