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Crude deposits fell 6.6 million barrels per week to Feb. 5 to 469 million barrels, compared to an expectation in a Reuters poll for a 985,000-barrel increase.
Refinery use rates rose 0.7 percentage points per week to 83%, the highest level of cleaning use since March.
Raw refinery runoff of 152,000 barrels per day rose last week, the EIA said, as refineries expect fuel demand to continue to recover from weakness caused by last year’s coronavirus.
Fuel demand was also higher, with regenerated output delivered rising to 20.2 million bpd. Gasoline demand over the past four weeks, however, remains 10% lower than at the same time a year ago.
Crude prices did not change slightly after the data, with U.S. futures up six cents to $ 58.43 a barrel as of 10:49m EST (1549 GMT), while Brent rose 19 cents to $ 61.28 a barrel.
“A combination of higher refining activity and lower imports resulted in a fourth consecutive drag to oil investments, and a big one at that,” said Matt Smith, director of product research at ClipperData.
U.S. crude imports rose last week by 216,000 bpd, the EIA said.
U.S. gasoline stock rose 4.3 million barrels per week to 256.4 million barrels, compared to expectations for a 1.8 million-barrel increase.
Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, fell 1.7 million barrels per week, compared to an expected 790,000-barrel fall.
Reporting by David Gaffen; Edited by Marguerita Choy