US Crude Stocks Rise, Gasoline and Distillate Inventories Fall, EIA Says

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

Crude inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels to 464.7 million barrels in the week ended April 3, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 701,000-barrel rise.

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Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 24,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Oil futures pared earlier losses following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $94.59 a barrel, down $14.68 at 10:37 a.m. ET (1437 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down $17.25 a barrel at $95.70.

U.S. oil futures had fallen by more than $20 a barrel earlier in the session on the Iran war ceasefire, and Brent had been down more than $16 a barrel.

Refinery crude runs fell by 129,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 0.1 percentage point to 92% in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 239.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week to 114.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.5 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 758,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Rod Nickel