NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. crude stocks rose more than expected even as gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week in a sign of sustained fuel demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels to 437 million barrels in the week ended March 14, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 512,000-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1 million barrels, the EIA said.

"There's still pretty good demand for the crude oil that we're producing," said Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics.

Brent crude futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures edged higher after the data, and both benchmarks last rose over 0.6% by 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).

Meanwhile, U.S. gasoline stocks fell by about 530,000 barrels in the week to 240.6 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2 million-barrel draw.​

    Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.8 million barrels in the week to 114.8 million barrels, versus expectations for a 300,000-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

"The EIA showed a net draw including products, which is incrementally bullish," said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests.

    Net U.S. crude imports fell by 1.44 million barrels per day to 741,000 bpd, the lowest since October 2023.

Crude imports from Canada fell to 3.1 million bpd, the lowest since March 2023. The U.S. imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico in early March.

Refinery crude runs fell by 45,000 barrels per day, the EIA said.

    Refinery utilization rates rose by 0.4 percentage points in the week.

Utilization on the East Coast fell to 53.8%, the lowest since July 2020.