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

CHICAGO, July 16 - U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels to 422.2 million barrels in the week ended July11, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 552,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 213,000 barrels, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 157,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 0.8 percentage points to 93.9% in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 3.4 million barrels in the week to 232.9 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel draw.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week to 107 million barrels, versus expectations for a 200,000-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell last week by 395,000 barrels per day, EIA said.