U.S. crude stocks fell last week as refineries hiked output, while gasoline stocks decreased and distillate inventories rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 246,000 barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 3.7 million barrels, EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 141,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.7 percentage points.
Gasoline stocks fell by 1.1 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million barrels drop.