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

HOUSTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) — US crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories fell by 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels in the week ended October 9, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 288,000-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week, the EIA said. Refinery crude runs rose by 135,000 barrels per day, the EIA said. Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.8 percentage points in the week to 93.5%. U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 3.5 million barrels in the week to 208.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.5 million-barrel draw.​ Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week to 102.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed. Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 596,000 barrels per day, EIA said. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston) ((arathy.s@thomsonreuters.com)