US crude oil stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise, EIA says

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

Crude inventories dropped by 3.8 million barrels to 419.1 million ‌barrels in ‌the week ended January 2, the EIA said, compared with ‌analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 447,000-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 728,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.


Oil futures were little changed following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading ‌at $60.15 ‍a barrel, down 55 cents, at 10:39 ‍a.m. ET (1539 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate ‌futures were down 81 cents, at $56.32 a barrel.

Refinery crude runs rose by 62,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates were unchanged in the week at 94.7%.

U.S. gasoline stocks increased by 7.7 million barrels in the ‍week to 242 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in ‍a Reuters ⁠poll for ⁠a 3.2 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, climbed by 5.6 million barrels in the week to 129.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.1 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 563,000 barrels per day, EIA said.