US crude and distillate inventories fall, gasoline inventories rise, says EIA

DENVER, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose in the week ending May 2, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 2 million barrels to 438.4 million barrels last week , the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 833,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 740,000 barrels in the week ended May2, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 7,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 0.4 percentage points in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 0.2 million barrels in the week to 225.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week to 106.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.3 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 673,000 barrels per day, EIA said.