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

Crude inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels to 418.3 million barrels in the week ended August 22, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9-million-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 838,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

Oil futures extended gains following the report. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $67.87 a barrel, up 65 cents at 10:36 a.m. EDT (1436 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading at $63.98 a barrel, up 73 cents.

Refinery crude runs fell by 328,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates fell by 2 percentage points to 94.6%.

U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 222.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2-million-barrel draw.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.8 million barrels in the week to 114.2 million barrels, versus expectations for an 885,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 299,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.
Source: Reuters