(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks rose last week, as refineries boosted production with more resources coming back online after devastating February storms in Texas.
Crude deposits rose 2.4 million barrels per week to March 12, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, compared to analysts ’expectations for an increase of 3 million barrels.
Total stocks have been rising since February, as glaziers shut down and it has been slow to come back online as a result of the storms, which cut power for millions and killed dozens of people. .
Fine crude running rose 1.1 million barrels per day, EIA data showed. Fine use rates rose 7.1 percentage points, increasing overall usage to 76.1% of capacity.
“It is clear that the refiners are making great strides towards overcoming it,” said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging. “I expected that trend to continue for the next week or two.”
Prices fell on the news. U.S. crude fell 78 cents, or 1.2%, to $ 64.02 a barrel as of 10:53 am ET (1453 GMT), while Brent was 85 cents lower at $ 67.54 per barrel.
Gasoline stock rose 472,000 barrels, compared to the 3 million-barrel drop expected. Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil rose 255,000 barrels, rose, compared to a forecast for a 3.4 million-barrel fall.
U.S. crude imports fell last week by 219,000 barrels per day.
Raw stocks at Cushing’s delivery center, Oklahoma, fell 624,000 barrels, the EIA said.
Reporting by David Gaffen; Edited by Marguerita Choy