U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week ending June 14 to 457.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel draw.
Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose by 307,000 barrels, the EIA said. Oil prices extended gains slightly after the report showed a fall in overall stocks.
Refinery crude runs fell by 282,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week, and refinery utilization rates fell by 1.5 percentage points to 93.5 per cent of total capacity.
Crude exports rose by 1.2 million bpd to 4.4 million bpd, while net imports declined by 2.5 million to 2.6 million bpd.
Gasoline inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels to 231.2 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with forecasts for a 600,000-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.7 million barrels to 121.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 300,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.