The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced, on Wednesday, that the U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a fourth consecutive week, and gasoline and distillate stocks declined amid a pickup in demand. In a statement, EIA clarified that the commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 3.7 million barrels to 436.5 million barrels in the week ended Jul.19 and were about 5% below the five-year average for the time of year. Crude oil consumption in refineries decreased by 521,000 barrels per day last week, with refinery operating rates dropping by 2.1%. Meanwhile, net crude oil imports to the United States decreased by 388,000 barrels per day. Gasoline inventories in the United States dropped by 5.6 million barrels last week to 227.4 million barrels. Additionally, distillate fuel inventories, including diesel and heating oil, decreased by 2.8 million barrels to 125.3 million barrels, contrary to expectations of an increase of 250,000 barrels, said EIA. Source: Qa tar News Agency