U.S. crude stocks, gasoline and distillate inventories rose in the week ending May 16, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels to 443.2 million barrels in the week ended May 16, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 457,000 barrels.
Crude futures pared gains after the data, with Brent futures briefly turning negative following the surprise build in crude stocks.
Refinery crude runs rose by 89,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.5 percentage points to 90.7 per cent in the week.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 816,000 barrels to 225.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 520,000-barrel draw.
U.S. gasoline futures turned negative after the data.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 580,000 barrels in the week to 104.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.4 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
U.S. heating oil futures turned negative following the data.
Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 110,000 bpd, the EIA said.