02:21 PM EDT, 03/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Commercial crude stockpiles in the US rose less than projected last week as total motor gasoline inventories posted a draw, government data showed Wednesday.

Inventories of crude, excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, increased by 1.4 million barrels to 435.2 million barrels through the week ended Friday, the Energy Information Administration said. The consensus was for a gain of 2 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Total motor gasoline inventories slid by 5.7 million barrels, while distillate fuel stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels. Propane and propylene inventories dropped by 3.4 million barrels. Total commercial petroleum inventories declined by 6 million barrels.

Refineries operated at 86.5% capacity, up from 85.9% the week earlier. Both gasoline and distillate fuel output fell, the data showed.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.3% to $67.74 a barrel in Wednesday afternoon trade, while Brent was up 2% at $70.97.

The EIA said Tuesday that it sees Brent's spot price rising to $75 per barrel by the third quarter as lower production in Iran and Venezuela will likely drive global oil inventories down in the second quarter, according to its short-term energy outlook report.

"Global oil markets will remain relatively tight through the middle of 2025 before gradually shifting to oil inventory builds later this year," the EIA said in the report.

The global oil demand and supply growth forecasts for 2025 remained unchanged, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Wednesday.