U.S. crude stocks fall sharply after hurricane-API

NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks fell sharply last week as Hurricane Isaac's passage through the Gulf of Mexico shut in production and closed ports, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.

Crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 31, compared with analysts' expectations for a drawdown of 5.3 million barrels.

Hurricane Isaac temporarily disrupted the majority of oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for several days, shut import terminals and shuttered several refineries in the region. Drilling companies are busy restoring output this week.

U.S. crude imports fell by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to 7.9 million bpd, the API said.

Refinery utilization fell 3.8 percentage points to 87.1 percent of capacity, API figures showed.

In PADD 3, the Gulf Coast region, crude stocks fell by nearly 7.6 million barrels and gasoline inventories were down by 1.8 million barrels, while distillates fell by 800,000 barrels.

Total U.S. distillate stocks fell by 132,000 barrels. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a larger 1.9 million barrel draw.

Gasoline stocks fell 2.3 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a larger decline of 3.4 million barrels.

Crude stocks at the delivery hub of Cushing, Oklahoma rose by 58,000 barrels last week, API said. (Reporting by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by David Gregorio)