Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected in the latest week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell 562,000 barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a 3.18 million-barrel drawdown.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell 3.2 million barrels in the week against expectations for a 904,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
Refinery crude runs fell 169,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said. The weekly refinery utilization rate fell 1.1%, according to the report.
Gasoline inventories fell 1.12 million barrels last week the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel build.
"The EIA has metaphorically put some gas into the oil bulls’ tank, though in real terms, its latest dataset takes some of the pressure that’s built on the oil complex for weeks, particularly on the fuel products side," said Investing.com analyst Barani Krishnan. "While the crude draw at 562,000 barrels is less than a fifth of the 3.2 million barrels expected, it comes on the back of 140,000 barrels per day more in imports. The surge in exports was, however, compensated by the near 500,000 bpd spike in exports. That tells you where the crude draw came from."
Krishnan added: "For the driving component, the gasoline draw will be a relief as it’s the first drawdown in seven weeks. This is a nice surprise given that people aren’t usually driving around like crazy at this time of the year. For distillates, it’s the first drop in four weeks and necessary to keep up with the theme of higher deliveries for the holiday season by trucks plying the country coast-to-coast. Not surprisingly, both WTI and Brent have taken this positively and rallying after a 2-day drop. Yet, one set of data doesn’t make a trend. We’ll have to see the coming weeks’ numbers as the winter deepens, holiday deliveries end and Covid takes a whole new grip on the nation."