Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Crude inventories fell by 5.5 million barrels in the last week to 431.1 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.7 million-barrel drop.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 706,000 barrels in the week to Dec 29, the EIA said.
Refinery crude runs rose by 121,000 barrels per day in the last week, EIA said.
Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.2 percentage points in the week.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 10.9 million barrels in the week to 237 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 215,000 barrel drop.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 10.1 million barrels in the week to 125.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 588,000 barrel rise, the EIA data showed.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 758,000 barrels per day, EIA said. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney in Houston)
