US crude and fuel stocks fall on stronger demand from refineries, consumers, EIA says

By Georgina McCartney and Siddharth Cavale

HOUSTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday, as demand rose from refineries to the fuel pump.

Crude inventories fell by 9 million barrels to 419.8 million barrels in the week ended February 13, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1-million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 1.1 million barrels, the EIA said.

U.S. CLc1 and Brent crude futures LCOc1 both spiked after the data showed the surprise drop in U.S. crude stocks. They were last trading up about 2%.

"Support for oil prices came from a very bullish EIA report, showing massive draws across the board and stronger U.S. oil demand," said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.

Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 540,000 barrels per day to 21.65 million bpd.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 77,000 bpd last week, the EIA said. Refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI increased by 1.6 percentage points in the week to 91%, the highest rate in a month.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week to 255.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 284,000-barrel draw.

U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 extended gains after the data showed a larger-than-expected drop in gasoline stocks, last up around 1.8%.

​Gasoline demand rose by 449,000 bpd to 8.75 million bpd.

"Gasoline demand rose because people got their cars out of the snow and started driving them again, while distillate stocks fell because of the pull on diesel and the cold weather that has been continuing," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 4.6 million barrels in the week to 120.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.4-million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

U.S. heating oil futures extended gains after the data showed the larger-than-expected drop in distillate stocks, last up around 2.6%.

Distillate demand was up 304,000 bpd to 4.75 million bpd, the highest since January 2022.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell by 1.13 million bpd, EIA said.