U.S. crude stocks fell sharply last week, while gasoline stocks saw an unexpectedly large increase and distillate inventories fell, the U.S. Energy Department said on June 29.

Crude inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels for the week to June 24, the sixth consecutive week of drawdowns. Analysts expected a decrease of 2.4 million barrels.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., delivery hub fell by 951,000 barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Gasoline stocks posted an unseasonably large increase of 1.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 58,000-barrel gain.

Refinery crude runs rose by 190,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 1.7 percentage points.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a paltry 14,000 rise, the EIA said.

U.S. crude imports fell last week by 993,000 barrels per day.