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

DENVER, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 3 million barrels to 426.4 million barrels in the week ended September 18, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 641,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to 23.7 million barrels, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 519,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 2.8 percentage points in the week to 94%.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to 206 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.1 million-barrel build.

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 0.4 million barrels in the week to 107.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI rose last week by 369,000 barrels per day, EIA said.