U.S. crude, fuel stocks fall in most recent week: EIA

(Reuters) – U.S. crude stocks, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week to Sept. 18 to 494.4 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.3 million-barrel drop.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 4,000 barrels in the last week, EIA said.

Refinery crude runs fell by 118,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said. Refinery utilization rates fell by 1 percentage point in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 4 million barrels in the week to 227.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 648,000-barrel drop.

Distillate stockpiles , which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.4 million barrels in the week to 175.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 267,000 barrels per day, EIA said.

(Reporting By David Gaffen)