U.S. crude stocks dropped in the most recent week as refiners kept running at above-average levels for this time of year, while demand improved from the previous week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 14 to 437.4 million barrels. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 1.4 million-barrel rise.

Refiners continued operating at high rates. Crude runs fell by 133,000 barrels per day in the week, dropping refinery utilization rates by 0.4 percentage points to 89.5%. That level was still highest in 19 years, according to the EIA, as refiners churned out product to offset low inventories nationwide.

“We had a nice crude oil draw here. It’s pretty good for turnaround season. The fact that you got a draw at all is pretty good,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 583,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 114,000 barrels in the week. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 124,000 barrels to 106.2 million barrels.

“The distillate situation, we averted crisis for at least one more week. There was a small build but at least we’re not at a 17-year low. That probably will happen in the coming weeks,” Yawger said.

Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.42 million barrels per day, EIA said.

U.S. products supplied rose sharply, hitting 20.8 million bpd in the most recent week, though the four-week average still shows demand off by 2.4% compared with the year-ago period.

Oil prices were marginally higher. U.S. crude gained 40 cents to $83.22 as of 11:23 a.m. EDT (1523 GMT) while Brent gained 45 cents to $90.48 a barrel.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By David Gaffen; Editing by David Gregorio)