NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil inventories rose more than expected last week as imports rebounded, while distillate stocks fell unexpectedly, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in data released Wednesday.
Crude stockpiles came in at 313.5 million barrels in the week to November 14, up 1.6 million barrels, EIA said. That was twice analysts' expectations of a build of 800,000 barrels.
Crude imports rose by 368,000 barrels per day last week.
Inventories of distillates fell 1.5 million barrels to 126.9 million barrels last week, against expectations for a 600,000 barrel rise.
"The distillate number was definitely supportive. It's a pretty significant draw when most expected a build," said Tom Bentz, senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc in New York.
"On distillates, we are sitting lower than we should be at the lower end of stock levels. A drawdown in distillates is bullish over all," Bentz added.
U.S. heating oil supplies logged a 400,000 barrel rise to 42.1 million barrels. However, a cold snap this week in the U.S. Northeast, the world's biggest market for the fuel, should boost demand, analysts said.
Gasoline inventories rose by 500,000 barrels to 198.6 million barrels, topping forecasts for a 400,000 barrel gain. Supplies have risen for three consecutive weeks now.
Total gasoline output by domestic refiners decreased by 208,000 bpd, EIA said. Demand for the motor fuel over the past four weeks stood at 9.03 million bpd, down 2.2 percent from a year ago.
Demand for distillates was off as well, down 3.3 percent year-on-year over the past four weeks, while total product demand was down 7 percent compared with year-ago levels.
Total product imports were up 78,000 bpd, EIA added.
Refinery utilization was up 0.3 percentage point at 84.9 percent of capacity, against analysts' projections of an unchanged reading.
The American Petroleum Institute said in a separate report that U.S. weekly crude stocks surged by 8 million barrels, with gasoline and distillates up by 710,000 barrels and 126,000 barrels, respectively.
(Reporting by Haitham Haddadin; Editing by John Picinich)
