US crude stocks rise, fuel inventories fall on higher demand, EIA says

By Liz Hampton and Georgina McCartney

DENVER/HOUSTON, March 11 - U.S. crude stocks rose while fuel inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as demand for gasoline and diesel rose on concerns that prices at the pump would continue to rise as the war with Iran upends global trade and supplies.

Crude inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels to 443.1 million barrels in the week ended March 6 amid higher imports and lower exports, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 117,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said, their highest level since August 2024. Stockpiles on the U.S. Gulf Coast were at their highest level since June 2024.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 661,000 barrels per day, EIA said, while exports declined by 563,000 bpd to 3.43 million bpd.

Oil futures remained in positive territory following the report. Global Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $90.84 a barrel, up $3.04 at 10:38 a.m ET (1439 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were trading up $2.57 at $86.02 a barrel.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 3.7 million barrels in the week to 249.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.6 million-barrel draw.​ Gasoline prices have surged since the war with Iran drove oil to multi-year highs, ending last week at $3.32 a gallon, up 11% from the week prior and the highest since September 2024.

Gasoline demand rose by 949,000 bpd to 9.24 million bpd last week, and distillate demand rose by 367,000 bpd to 4.07 million bpd.

"It didn't look like this war would be over soon so everyone ran to the gas station to load up," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

"Refinery utilization is up implying the refineries are getting the idea that they can make some money off this situation by tapping storage," he added.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 328,000 bpd in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 1.6 percentage points in the week to 90.8%.

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.3 million barrels in the week to 119.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.7 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, jumped to 21.2 million bpd last week, up from 19.87 million bpd the week prior.