US crude stocks fall as refiners step up processing, EIA says

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 430,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 99,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 0.4 percentage points in the week to 96.2%.

"Ongoing strength in refining activity amid peak summer driving demand has encouraged a draw to crude inventories, although its magnitude has been stymied by ongoing SPR releases and a slowing pace of crude exports," said Matt Smith, director of Commodity Research at Kpler.

U.S. oil and gasoline stocks fell last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as refiners stepped up their crude processing and gasoline demand remained sturdy in the summer driving season.

Crude inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels to 409.7 million barrels in the week to July 10, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.6 million-barrel draw.

U.S. gasoline stocks fell by in the week to , the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a .