US crude oil stocks fall on refinery demand - EIA

NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil stocks fell more than expected last week as refiners ramped up operations, while gasoline supplies dropped for the fifth week, the Energy Information Administration said in weekly data released Thursday.

Commercial crude inventories fell 5.4 million barrels to 363.1 million barrels in the week ended May 22, EIA said, dwarfing the 700,000-barrel decline analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.

Gasoline inventories registered a drop of 600,000 barrels to 203.4 million barrels, smaller than a forecast 1.5-million-barrel fall, EIA's data showed. Distillate stocks rose 300,000 barrels to 148.4 million barrels, well below analysts' forecasts for a 1.1-million-barrel build.

Crude runs, or demand for petroleum feed by refiners, rose 624,000 barrels per day as domestic refinery utilization rose a whopping 3.3 percentage points to 85.1 percent of capacity. Analysts had projected an increase of 0.4 percentage point.

EIA issued its weekly data a day later than usual due to Monday's U.S. Memorial Day holiday. (Reporting by Haitham Haddadin; Editing by John Picinich)