U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose in the week ending December 27, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Crude inventories fell by 1.2 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.8 million-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 142,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

Global Brent crude futures were trading at $76.21 a barrel, up $1.57 a barrel at 11:16 a.m. EST (1616 GMT), and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $73.39 a barrel, up $1.67.

Refinery crude runs rose by 41,000 barrels per day (bpd), and utilization rates (USOIRU=ECI) rose by 0.2 percentage points in the week, according to the EIA.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 7.7 million barrels in the week to 231.4 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 million-barrel build.

Gasoline futures pared gains following the larger-than-expected build.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.4 million barrels in the week to 122.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.1 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 323,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

Source: Reuters