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(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell more than expected last week on strong demand from refineries, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose to multi-year highs, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels to 429.9 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 12, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 313,000-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for U.S. futures <USOICC=ECI> were down by 2.1 million barrels, the EIA said.
Benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by more than 1% following the report, trading at $73.75 a barrel by midday ET (1700 GMT).
“We are seeing strong demand for crude at refineries,” said Timothy Snyder, economist at consultancy Matador Economics.
Refineries were running at 92.6% of total capacity, with utilization rates edging down just 0.3 percentage point in the week, while refinery crude runs  rose by 135,000 barrels per day (bpd), the EIA said.
The four-week average for refinery crude runs is currently 11.7% above year-ago levels, according to EIA data.
Net U.S. crude imports  also fell last week by 528,000 bpd due to a jump in exports of 1.7 million bpd to 5.0 million bpd as shipping activity picked up.
“That (rise in exports) probably represents a bit of bunching of shipments after a bit of a lull over the holidays, but is still quite supportive for last week,” said Tim Evans, an independent energy analyst.
Meanwhile, gasoline stocks  rose by 3.1 million barrels in the week to 248.1 million barrels, the EIA said. Analysts had forecast for a 2.2 million-barrel build.
Gasoline inventories hit their highest level since March 2022, with Gulf Coast stockpiles swelling to their most since May 2021.​
Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week to 134.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a 900,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Distillate stocks are at their highest level since August 2021.
“We’re continuing to build fuel inventories. It could be a longer term issue,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
Cold weather typically leads to a build up in inventories seasonally at this time of year, he said. He expects inventories to drawdown in February and March, but warned that weakness in the Chinese economy could be a headwind.
Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Additional reporting by Georgina McCartney and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston Editing by Marguerita Choy
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