U.S. crude stockpiles drop slightly -EIA

U.S. crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.

Crude inventories fell by 405,000 barrels in the week to Jan. 17 to 428.1 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel drop.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 961,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs fell by 116,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said. Refinery utilization rates fell by 1.7 percentage points.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 260 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analyst expectations for a 3.1 million-barrel rise.​

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 146 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1 million-barrel rise, the data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 53,000 barrels per day.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By New York Energy Desk)