US crude inventories fell last week, while gasoline inventories and distillates rose, data from the US Petroleum Institute showed on Wednesday.
The API said US crude inventories fell 5.1 million barrels in the week ending Jan. 12 to 411.5 million barrels, while analysts had forecast a 3.5 million barrel decline.
Inventories at the delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 3.9 million barrels.
The Institute’s data showed that the consumption of refineries of crude increased by 420 thousand barrels.
Gasoline inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels, while analysts included in a Reuters poll forecast an increase of 3.4 million barrels.
Distillate stocks, including diesel and heating oil, increased 609,000 barrels while 86,000 barrels were expected to rise.
US oil imports last week fell by 425,000 bpd to 7.3 million bpd, according to API data.
