US crude stocks rise, gasoline and distillate inventories fall - EIA

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week to 206.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 670,000 million-barrel draw.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.2 million barrels in the week to 103.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 161,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week on higher demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 95,000 barrels to 428.9 million barrels in the week ended August 21, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 597,000-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Oil futures pared earlier losses following the smaller-than-expected build in inventories. Global Brent crude futures were trading at $87.7 a barrel, down 88 cents at 10:51 a.m. ET (1451 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 61 cents to $81.75 a barrel.

"There were very strong gasoline numbers on the week. It could be the last gasp during summer, but still very strong. Products exported were also strong. Clearly, there's demand for U.S. supplies," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

Total product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 1.41 million bpd to 20.95 million bpd. Gasoline demand jumped by 354,000 barrels per day to 9.04 million bpd. Product exports were at 7.8 million bpd during the week.