The US Energy Information Administration announced Wednesday that crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories in the United States declined last week. The administration, which is the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy in its short-term energy estimates, said in a statement that crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels to reach 426 million barrels last week. It added that crude inventories at the delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 560 thousand barrels, while refinery consumption of crude rose by 222 thousand barrels per day, and refinery operating rates increased by 0.8 percentage points. The statement indicated that gasoline inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels last week to reach 220.6 million barrels. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, also fell by 3.3 million barrels to 122.8 million barrels, while net US crude imports rose last week by 78,000 barrels per day. Source: Qatar News Agency