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

HOUSTON, Feb 25 - U.S. crude and distillate inventories rose while gasoline stocks fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 16 million barrels to 435.8 million barrels in the week ended February 20, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 881,000 barrels, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 416,000 barrels per day.

Refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 2.4 percentage points in the week to 88.6%.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 1 million barrels in the week to 254.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 560,000-barrel draw.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 252,000 barrels in the week to 120.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 412,000 bpd, EIA said, to 2.35 million bpd.