U.S. crude stocks fell for a third time last week as refineries hiked output, while gasoline and distillate inventories both declined, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for an decrease of one million barrels.
Refinery crude runs rose by 245,000 barrels per day, reversing much of the previous week's decline to maintain record high seasonal rates, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 1.2 percentage points.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2.8 million barrels, paring back unusually high inventories for this time of year. Analysts had expected a 729,000-barrel gain.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 546,000 barrels, versus expectations for a no change, the EIA data showed.
U.S. crude imports rose last week by 318,000 barrels per day.
