U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week, while gasolineand distillate inventories increased as refining continued to ramp up, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels to 455.9 million barrels in the week ended May 31, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.3 million-barrel draw.

Crude oil futures edged higher after the data. Brent LCOc1 was 20 cents higher at $77.72 a barrel by 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT). West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) CLc1 were up 16 cents at $73.41 a barrel.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for the U.S. benchmark rose by 854,000 barrels, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs rose by 61,000 barrels per day to 17.1 million bpd, their highest since December 2019, while refineryutilization rates rose by 1.1 percentage points to 95.4% of total capacity, their highest in a year.

Gasoline stocks rose by 2.1 million barrels in the week to 230.9 million barrels, the EIA said, slightly more than forecasts for a 2 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.2 million barrels in the week to 122.5 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.5 million-barrel rise, the data showed.

U.S. diesel futures were up 0.31%, while gasoline futures RBc1 were down 0.17%.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 13,000 bpd, the EIAsaid.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York, Editing by Marguerita Choy)