US crude stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise - EIA

DENVER, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose in the week ending December 27, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.

Crude inventories fell by 1.2 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.8 million-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 142,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 41,000 barrels per day (bpd), and utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 0.2 percentage points in the week, according to the EIA.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 7.7 million barrels in the week to 231.4 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.4 million barrels in the week to 122.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.1 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 323,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

((Liz.Hampton@thomsonreuters.com; +1 832 571 8115; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: liz.hampton.reuters@reuters.net))