US crude stocks rise to near 3-year high, fuel inventories drop, EIA says

By Liz Hampton and Georgina McCartney

DENVER, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks rose to their highest level in almost three years last week, while fuel inventories declined on rising international demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels to 464.7 million barrels in the week ended April 3, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 701,000-barrel rise. Stocks from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 1.7 million barrels to 413.3 million barrels.

The U.S. in March said it would release 172 million barrels of oil from its reserve over 120 days to reduce spiking oil prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 24,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said, their highest since July 2024. Crude stocks on the U.S. Gulf Coast were at their highest level since March 2023.

Oil futures pared earlier losses, despite the crude build. Global Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $94.90 a barrel, down $14.37 at 11:14 a.m. ET (1514 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were down $17.50 a barrel at $95.45.

DISTILLATE STOCKS DROP MORE THAN EXPECTED

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week to 114.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.5-million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Exports of distillates rose last week by 170,000 barrels per day to 1.58 million bpd, compared with 1.23 million bpd a year ago.

"Overall a neutral report. U.S. commercial inventories are up as the U.S. has started to tap from the strategic reserves, but we also had large draws for products amid ongoing high demand for U.S. crude and refined products from abroad," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst with UBS.

U.S. oil futures had fallen by more than $20 a barrel earlier in the session on the Iran war ceasefire, and Brent had been down more than $16 a barrel.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell last week by 758,000 bpd, EIA said, while exports rose by 628,000 bpd to 4.15 million bpd.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 129,000 bpd, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 0.1 percentage point to 92% in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI dropped by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 239.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.​

Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by 283,000 bpd to 20.64 million bpd.