U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 5.5 million barrels in the week ended March 27, bringing total stocks to 461.6 million barrels. Analysts had expected a much smaller build of 814,000 barrels. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 520,000 barrels over the same period.
Refinery crude runs declined by 219,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates slipped by 0.8 percentage points.
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 0.6 million barrels to 240.9 million barrels, a smaller draw than the 1.9 million barrels forecast by analysts. Distillate stockpiles—which include diesel and heating oil—declined by 2.1 million barrels to 117.8 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 0.6 million-barrel decrease.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 209,000 barrels per day last week.
