Washington, May 13 (QNA) - The US Energy Information Administration said that US crude oil and gasoline inventories declined last week, while distillate stockpiles increased.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the agency said crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels to 452.9 million barrels last week. Crude stocks at the delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, also declined by 1.7 million barrels. Meanwhile, refinery crude runs rose by 370,000 barrels per day, while refinery utilization rates increased by 1.6 percentage points to 91.7 percent.

The statement added that US gasoline inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels to 215.7 million barrels, while distillate inventories - including diesel and heating oil - rose by 200,000 barrels to 102.5 million barrels. Net US crude oil imports, meanwhile, fell by 318,000 barrels per day. (QNA)