Washington: The US Energy Information Administration announced Wednesday that crude oil inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels to 419 million barrels last week, compared to expectations of a 1.6-million-barrel decline.

According to Qatar News Agency, the administration added in a statement Wednesday that crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 455,000 barrels during the week. It was noted that refinery crude oil runs increased by 87,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates rose by 1.6 percentage points.

The report explained that gasoline inventories decreased by 1.7 million barrels last week to 231.1 million barrels, against expectations of a 0.9-million-barrel decline. Meanwhile, distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, saw an increase of 2.9 million barrels last week to 109.9 million barrels, contrasting with expectations of a 1.1-million-barrel decline.

The EIA reported that US crude exports rose by 337,000 barrels per day to 3.86 million, while net crude imports fell by 740,000 last week.