US crude stockpiles fall as refining continues to rise, EIA says

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week as refiners continued to ramp up production, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles also dropped, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to 433.6 million barrels in the week ended March 21, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 956,000-barrel draw.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 87,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI inched up by 0.1 percentage point to 87% of total capacity, increasing for a third week in a row as refiners exit seasonal maintenance.

"We are seeing some pick up from increasing refinery utilization," said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests.

After the data, Brent crude futures LCOc1 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were up more than 1% on the day at $73.88 a barrel and $69.93 a barrel, respectively.

Prices pared some gains following the data as gasoline inventories drew less than expected and product supplied of the fuel, a proxy for demand, disappointed market participants.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to 239.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations for a 1.8 million-barrel draw.

Product supplied of gasoline fell to 8.6 million bpd from 8.8 million bpd.

"That's not very impressive," said Bob Yawger, director of Energy Futures at Mizuho. "We only have two months left to go until Memorial Day starts this summer driving season."​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 420,000 barrels in the week to 114.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

U.S. product supplied of jet fuel, a proxy for demand for the aviation fuel, declined in the week to 1.4 million bpd, the lowest since February 2024, the data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 845,000 bpd, the EIA said.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 755,000 barrels, the EIA said.