By Liz Hampton and Arathy Somasekhar
DENVER, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. oil stockpiles plunged last week as surging global demand amid the Iran war turned the United States into a net crude exporter on a weekly basis for the first time on record, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels in the week ended April 24, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 231,000-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 796,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude exports climbed to a record 6.44 million barrels per day, marking a 1.64 million bpd rise from the week prior. Net imports of crude oil, or the difference between imports and exports, fell by 1.97 million bpd into negative territory, hitting the lowest on record in weekly data that goes back to 2001, according to U.S. government data. On an annual basis, the U.S. was last a net exporter of crude in 1943, data showed.
'BARRELS GOING OVERSEAS'
"Refineries didn't change. Domestic production was unchanged. It was all about the export numbers. Those barrels are going overseas rather than into storage," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Oil futures rose following the report. Global Brent crude futures were at $117.11 a barrel, up $5.85 at 10:58 a.m. ET (1458 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $5.21 a barrel, at $105.14.
Refinery crude runs rose by 84,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates increased by 0.5 percentage point in the week to 89.6%.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 6.1 million barrels in the week to 222.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week to 103.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
"With refinery runs still in check, solid draws were seen to both gasoline and distillate inventories," said Matt Smith, an analyst with ship tracking firm Kpler.
Total exports of all petroleum products hit 14.18 million bpd, up 1.298 million bpd from the week prior, while overall product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 1.4 million bpd to 21.13 million bpd.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Rod Nickel)
