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US crude stockpiles rise all of a sudden, gas draws down as demand grows -EIA.

U.S. petroleum inventories rose suddenly last week due to a huge change for unaccounted barrels, while fuel stockpiles fell as demand grew ahead of the summertime driving season, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Unrefined stocks rose by 1.8 million barrels to 458.8 million barrels in the week ending May 17, the EIA said, compared to experts' expectations in a survey for a 2.5 million-barrel draw.

Regardless of higher exports and refining rates and stable production, unrefined stocks grew as the EIA's modification number, which tracks unaccounted for crude, rose to 1.4 million barrels recently, its greatest given that early November.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, shipment hub for U.S. unrefined futures rose by 1.3 million barrels last week, the EIA stated.

Brent crude and U.S. oil futures pared losses after the report, trading down 1% on the day.

Refinery unrefined runs increased by 227,000 barrels per day, while refinery usage rates rose by 1.3 percentage points to 91.7% of overall capability as refiners sought to fulfill growing fuel need.

Gasoline stocks fell by 945,000 barrels in the week to 226.8 million barrels, the EIA stated, more than projections for a 729,000-barrel draw.

Product provided for gas, a proxy for demand, rose by 440,000 bpd recently to 9.3 million bpd. The summertime driving season and demand for the motor fuel starts around the Memorial Day vacation this weekend.

It's a great report. Gas is the star of the program here because it's driving season, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

The refinery utilization was up big, that indicates refiners attempting to make more gasoline. It suggests there is going to be some increase in need, he added.?

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 379,000 barrels in the week to 116.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 394,000-barrel drop.

U.S. diesel futures extended losses to 0.8% following the surprise develop, while U.S. fuel futures pared losses, down 0.9%.

Net U.S. crude imports fell recently by 676,000 bpd, with volumes from Mexico hitting a record low of 184,000 bpd. The previous low was 208,000 bpd in the week to April 12, after state energy business Petroleos Mexicanos cut exports to provide more to its domestic refineries.

U.S. exports rose by 595,000 bpd to reach 4.73 million bpd, while unrefined production held constant at 13.1 million bpd.

(source: Reuters)