US crude stocks rise unexpectedly, gasoline falls: EIA

US crude oil stocks rose unexpectedly last week, while gasoline inventories fell more than expected, US Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday.

Domestic crude stockpiles rose 4.23 million barrels to 353.98 million barrels in the week to August 12. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an 800,000-barrel drawdown on average.

Crude imports were up 185,000 barrels per day at 9.25 million bpd.

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve saw its stock levels fall by 5.9 million barrels last week after recent releases by International Energy Agency member countries including the United States. That boosted crude stocks in PADD 3, the Gulf Coast region, by 6.26 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks fell 3.51 million barrels to 210.08 million barrels.

That was more than analysts' projections on average for a decline of 1.3 million barrels. Average gasoline demand in the last four weeks fell 3 percent from year-ago levels.

Distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, rose 2.45 million barrels to 153.97 million barrels, more than the expected gain of 400,000 barrels.

Refinery utilization fell 0.9 percentage point to 89.1 percent of capacity. Analysts had forecast a 0.2 percentage point decrease.

Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub for NYMEX crude deliveries fell 893,000 barrels to 33.69 million barrels.

US oil futures pared gains following the data. They were up USD 1.63 at USD 88.28 per barrel by 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT).

Late Tuesday, industry group American Petroleum Institute reported domestic crude stocks up 1.7 million barrels last week, with gasoline falling 5.4 million barrels and distillates down 1.3 million barrels.