U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week for the third consecutive weekly build as refineries continued to reduce output for seasonal maintenance, while gasoline inventories grew unexpectedly, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories rose 6 million barrels in the week to Oct. 5, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 2.6 million barrels. The build was in part due to a 2.4 million-barrel increase in stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S. crude futures. . Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 1.4 million barrels per day to 4.8 million bpd, the lowest rate since at least 2001 when the EIA began tracking the data. Weekly figures like this are volatile, however. The stock […]