* Crude stocks rise 1.9 mln barrels to 345.06 mln
* Gasoline stocks up 4.66 mln barrels at 240.89 mln
* Cushing inventories fall 927,000 bbls to 37.41 mln
* Distillates rise 288,000 barrels to 164.37 mln
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. crude oil inventories rose in line
with expectations and gasoline stocks surged to a 20-year high last week,
the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday.
Domestic crude stocks rose 1.9 million barrels to 345.06 million
barrels in the week to Feb. 4, the agency’s weekly report showed, versus
expectations for a 2.4 million barrel build in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Crude imports fell 105,000 barrels a day to 8.88 million bpd.
Stocks of gasoline surged 4.66 million barrels to 240.89 million
barrels, their highest weekly level since March 1990. Analysts had forecast
a smaller 2.5 million barrel build.
Inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma terminal fell 927,000 barrels
to 37.41 million barrels, receding from a record reached in the previous
week. Cushing is the delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange’s
benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract.
Distillate stocks rose 288,000 barrels to 164.37 million barrels,
compared with analyst projections for a 1.2 million barrel draw.
Refinery utilization rose 0.2 percentage points to 84.7 percent. The
average analyst forecast had been for a decrease of 0.2 percentage point.
Oil industry group American Petroleum Institute, in its own weekly
report released Tuesday, said domestic crude stocks fell 558,000 barrels,
while gasoline stocks rose 3.2 million barrels and distillates dropped
538,000 barrels.
(Reporting by Joshua Schneyer and Gene Ramos;
Editing by John Picinich)