Houston: US crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week as imports jumped, while both gasoline and distillate inventories fell more than expected, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. Crude inventories increased by 244,000 barrels to reach a total of 443.1 million barrels for the week ended April 18, marking an unforeseen build in stockpiles.

According to Qatar News Agency, crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub saw a decline of 86,000 barrels during the same period. Additionally, refinery crude runs experienced an increase of 325,000 barrels per day (bpd), with utilization rates rising by 1.8 percentage points to achieve 88.1 percent of total capacity.

US gasoline stocks recorded a significant drop of 4.5 million barrels, bringing the total down to 229.5 million barrels. Similarly, distillate stockpiles, which encompass diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.4 million barrels to 106.9 million barrels. These figures underscore a more substantial decrease in inventories than anticipated.

Net US crude imports experienced a noteworthy rise, increasing by 1.14 million bpd to a total of 2 million bpd. This surge in imports contributed to the unexpected build in crude stockpiles reported by the EIA.