US crude stockpiles slump, products build, EIA says
DENVER, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell sharply while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 11.5 million barrels to 420.9 million barrels in the week ending June 13, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub (USOICC=ECI), opens new tab fell by 995,000 barrels, the EIA said.
Oil futures extended losses despite EIA data showing a larger-than-expected decline in crude inventories. Brent crude was trading down $1.61 at $74.77 a barrel by 10:37 a.m. EDT (1437 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was at $73.39 a barrel, off $1.45.
Prices had turned negative before the data release after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on the Israel-Iran conflict and said Iran wanted to negotiate.
Refinery crude runs (USOICR=ECI), opens new tab fell by 364,000 barrels per day, while utilization rates (USOIRU=ECI), opens new tab fell by 1.1 percentage points in the week to 93.2% of total capacity.
Gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI), opens new tab rose by 209,000 barrels in the week to 230 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with forecasts for a 627,000-barrel build.
Distillate stockpiles (USOILD=ECI), opens new tab, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 514,000 barrels in the week to 109.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 440,000-barrel build, the data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports (USOICI=ECI), opens new tab fell by 1.75 million bpd, the EIA said.
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