UPDATE 6-Oil rises to near 1-year highs after U.S. stock drawdown

* U.S. crude stockpiles fall, gasoline inventories surge
-EIA
* OPEC+ maintains oil policy amid price rally
* OPEC+ sees oil market deficit throughout 2021

(Adds U.S. inventory data, updates prices, market activity,
commentary; changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2% to
near their highest levels in about a year on Wednesday, after
government data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell to their
lowest since March, while OPEC+ maintained its supply cut
agreement.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose $1.37, or 2.4%, to $58.83 a
barrel by 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT), their highest since last
February. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1
futures rose $1.45, or 2.7%, to $56.21 a barrel, their highest
since January 2020.
Both benchmarks' backwardation, where contracts for
near-term delivery are more expensive than later supplies, were
at their highest in just over a year at around $2.30, indicating
expectations of tighter supply. LCOc1-LCOc7 CLc1-CLc7
U.S. crude oil stockpiles USOILC=ECI fell last week to
475.7 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration
said on Wednesday, their lowest since March. Refiner utilization
rates USOIRU=ECI , meanwhile, rose by 0.6 percentage points.
"Refineries are back in business, which is supportive for
crude," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group
in Chicago. "On net, this is a supportive report."
The market has been bolstered by deep supply cuts from the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies,
which on Wednesday, maintained their oil output policy.
The day before, a document seen by Reuters showed that OPEC+
expects the oil market to be in deficit throughout 2021, peaking
at 2 million barrels per day in May. "Underpinning the bullish sentiment are tightening
fundamentals. Ahead of today's ministerial meeting, OPEC+ hinted
that global oil stockpiles will decline below the five-year
average by June," PVM analysts said.
The market was also bolstered by news that Democrats in the
U.S. Congress took the first steps toward advancing President
Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan without
Republican support.