US crude oil stockpiles rose slightly, while both gasoline and distillate inventories fell more than expected, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose by 244,000 barrels to 443.1 million barrels in the week ended April 18. US gasoline stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week to 229.5 million barrels, the EIA said. This compares with an inventory decrease of 2 million barrels for the previous week and an average daily production of 9.4 million barrels. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reportedly showed a large draw of 4.565 million barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories with large draws in gasoline and distillate stocks—and it’s not even driving season in the United States yet.