U.S. crude stocks rose last week as refineries recovered from freezing weather,the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels to 420.7 million barrels in the week ended January 26, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 217,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 2 million barrels last week, the EIA said.

Oil prices were little changed after EIA data. U.S. crude was down 1.9%, or $1.46, at $76.36 a barrel at 10:38 a.m. ET, while Brent traded down 97 cents or 1.2% at $81.90 per barrel.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week to 253 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel build.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week to 133.3 million barrels, as the cold weather boosted heating demand. That compared withexpectations for a 0.4 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Refinery crude runs fell by 428,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates fell by 2.6 percentage points in the week.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 565,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston)