U.S. crude oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories experienced significant declines in the week ending August 16, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude oil stocks fell by 4.6 million barrels to 426 million barrels, surpassing analyst expectations of a 2.7 million-barrel decrease. In Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, inventories dropped by 560,000 barrels. Meanwhile, refinery crude runs increased by 222,000 barrels per day, with utilization rates rising by 0.8 percentage points. Gasoline inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels to 220.6 million barrels, while distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.3 million barrels to 122.8 million barrels, well above analyst expectations of a 0.2 million-barrel drop. Net U.S. crude imports increased by 78,000 barrels per day last week.