U.S. crude oil inventories rose unexpectedly last week as refineries ran at a slower pace and net imports increased, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose by 3 million barrels to 426.4 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 18 and were about 2% above the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have fallen by 500,000 barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR fell by 405,000 barrels to 284.6 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, rose by 2.3 million barrels to 23.7 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.9 million barrels a day, down by 5,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Crude oil imports fell by 1.2 million barrels a day to 5.9 million barrels a day, while exports dropped by 1.6 million barrels a day to 3.3 million barrels a day. Net imports were up by 369,000 barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 94% of capacity, down from 96.8% the week before, with crude input to refineries falling by 519,000 barrels a day to 16.8 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have slowed by 0.6 of a percentage point.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels at 206 million barrels and were 6% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand was 8.8 million barrels a day, up 50,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Gasoline stocks were seen unchanged in the Journal survey.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 428,000 barrels to 107.4 million barrels and were 12% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were forecast to have fallen by 500,000 barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Sept. 18: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:           3.0          -1.7           -0.4                -2.8 
Forecast:          -0.5          unch           -0.5                -0.6 
 

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.