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

Crude inventories rose by 692,000 barrels in the week to April 22 to 414.4 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.3 million barrels in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs fell by 33,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.7 percentage points in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to 230.8 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 808,000-barrel rise.

Distillate stockpiles , which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to 107.3 million barrels, versus expectations for a 292,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 646,000 barrels per day, EIA said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By David Gaffen)