US crude stocks and gasoline inventories rise sharply, EIA says

By Liz Hampton and Georgina McCartney

Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and gasoline inventories both rose more than expected last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as refining activity and imports jumped.

Crude stocks were up by 3.4 million barrels to 422.4 million barrels in the week ended January 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7 million-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI increased by 745,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Oil futures were little changed despite the surprise build in crude stocks. Global Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $65.92 a barrel, up 45 cents, at 10:57 a.m. ET (1557 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were up 43 cents at $61.58 a barrel.

"The data set was bearish. Inventory builds for gasoline and crude – due to higher crude imports – but geopolitical factors dominate the oil market currently," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst with UBS.

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"Refiners really cranked it up here to 95% - that was a factor in generating that gasoline build, and also gasoline demand is typically very poor at this time of year," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York.

"It was a heck of an import week, well above the previous week and the average - about a million barrels more than we typically see, and that helped generate that crude build," he added.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 710,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, hitting their highest level since November 2024.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI climbed 49,000 bpd, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose 0.6 percentage point in the week to 95.3%. The four-week average for refinery utilization was at 94.8%, versus 92.5% the same time last year.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI increased by 9 million barrels in the week to 251 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.6 million-barrel build and marking the biggest weekly increase since December 2023. Inventories on the U.S. Gulf Coast jumped to their highest level since January 2020.

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, were nearly flat compared to the prior week at 129.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 512,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, rose last week to 8.3 million barrels per day, up from 8.17 million bpd, while distillate fuel oil demand jumped to 4.01 million bpd, from 3.2 million bpd.