US crude stockpiles hit near 3-year low despite softer refinery demand, EIA says

Adds analyst comment, milestones, details from report

By Liz Hampton and Arathy Somasekhar

DENVER, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories slipped to their lowest level since March 2022 last week, even as refining activity fell sharply, cutting demand for crude, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.

Distillate inventories also declined, while gasoline stockpiles rose during the week to Jan. 17, the EIA said.

Crude inventories fell by 1 million barrels to 411.7 million barrels, marking the ninth consecutive weekly decline, the EIA said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a 1.6 million-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 148,000 barrels to 20.7 million barrels, the EIA said, a level analysts and market participants have warned is near operational minimums.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI dropped by 1.1 million barrels per day, their largest weekly decline since Jan. 2024, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 5.8 percentage points in the week to 85.9%, the EIA said.

Crude futures extended their losses after the data showed the smaller-than-expected drawdown and drop in refining activity. Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was trading at $78.55 a barrel, down 47 cents, by 12:31 p.m. EST (1731 GMT) and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 50 cents at $74.95 a barrel at that time.

"Gulf Coast refiners have moved into their maintenance season and I think we're going to see these low utilization rates certainly over the next month or so," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

"Gasoline inventories have risen nearly well over 30 million barrels since the end of November. So I feel that as we go into the summer driving season, gasoline inventories are going to be adequate," he added

Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to 245.9 million barrels, the EIA said, in line with analysts' forecasts.

U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline inventories are at their highest level in a year, while product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell to its lowest last week since Jan. 2024.

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week to 128.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 300,000-barrel rise, data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 184,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.