New York (Platts)--29Apr2015/417 pm EDT/2017 GMT

Oil futures closed higher Wednesday after US government data showed crude stocks falling in Cushing, Oklahoma, for the first time since early December.

The NYMEX June crude futures contract settled $1.52 higher at $58.58/b. The ICE June Brent futures contract settled at $65.84/b, up $1.20.

Crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma -- delivery point for the NYMEX crude futures contract -- fell 514,000 barrels in the week that ended April 24, snapping a 20-week streak of uninterrupted builds.

Last week's Cushing draw "put the brakes" on concerns that the oil hub was set to reach full capacity, Mizuho Securities energy futures director Bob Yawger said.

The amount of crude at Cushing decreased to 61.7 million barrels last week, which equates to 87.1% of EIA's estimate of working capacity.

"We believe the draw at Cushing merely reflects increased movement of stock to the Gulf Coast (where stocks increased by 1.3 [million barrels]) and does not reflect increased consumption of crude," BNP Paribas analysts said in a client note.

US crude stocks rose 1.91 million barrels to 490.9 million barrels, EIA said, compared with analysts' expectation of a 1.4 million-barrel build.

Crude stocks have built continuously since the week ended January 9. The weekly increase during that time has averaged 6.8 million barrels, making last week's build small by comparison.

"Close to 500 million barrels is an extraordinary amount to be laying around today," Yawger said.

The US dollar weakened against other major currencies Wednesday, supporting crude futures. The US dollar index was down about 1% at 95.2.

Total distillate stocks fell 66,000 barrels to 129.27 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations of a 700,000 barrel-increase.

NYMEX May ULSD settled 3.15 cents higher at $1.9481/gal.

Gasoline stocks increased 1.713 million barrels to 227.451 million barrels, versus analysts' expectations of a 80,000 barrel-increase.

NYMEX May RBOB settled 1.61 cents higher at $2.0179/gal.

--Geoffrey Craig, geoffrey.craig@platts.com
--Edited by Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron.greenhalgh@platts.com

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