NEW YORK NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week much more than expected while increased refinery production boosted national gasoline supplies, government data released Thursday showed. Rising for the third time in a row, domestic commercial supplies of crude increased by 5.6 million barrels to 308.2 million barrels in the week to Oct. 10, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report. That rise was nearly three times larger than analysts' projections for an increase of 1.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 7 million barrels to 193.8 million barrels last week, EIA said, by far eclipsing analysts' forecasts for a gain of 2.9 million barrels. Inventories increased for the third consecutive week. Total gasoline output was up 228,000 barrels per day at 9.16 million bpd, according to the report which was issued a day later than usual due to Monday's Columbus Day federal holiday. Stocks of distillate fuels, which include heating oil and diesel, posted a surprise decline, falling by 500,000 barrels to 122.1 million barrels, compared with analysts' predictions for a 600,000-barrel build. This was the seventh straight decline in inventories. Domestic refinery utilization rose 1.3 percentage points to 82.2 percent of capacity last week, below forecasts for a rise of 2.9 percentage points. Utilization rates recovered in recent weeks after having sunk to record lows in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The Sept. 13 Hurricane Ike had shut about 15 U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. (Reporting by Haitham Haddadin; Editing by John Picinich) Keywords: ENERGY EIA/STOCKS Chuck Mikolajczak cm

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