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

March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels to 435.2 million barrels in the week ended March 7, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 1.2 million barrels last week, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 321,000 barrels per day, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 0.6 percentage points in the week, the EIA said.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 5.7 million barrels in the week to 241.1 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel draw.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 117.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.8 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 503,000 barrels per day, EIA said.