U.S. crude stocks up slightly, gasoline falls-API

NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Rising imports boosted U.S. crude stocks, which rose slightly last week instead of falling as forecast, while gasoline stocks fell by a sharp 4.2 million barrels, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.

Crude inventories rose by 221,000 barrels in the week to Sept. 7, compared with analysts' expectations for a drawdown of 2.6 million barrels.

U.S gasoline inventories fell 4.2 million barrels, compared with forecasts for a decline of 1.6 million barrels in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Refinery utilization fell by 2.8 percentage points to 84.3 percent of capacity last week, API data showed. Analysts had forecast a 0.8 percentage point rise in utilization.

Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall in Louisiana two weeks ago, temporarily disrupted most oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for several days, shut import terminals and shuttered several refineries in the region. Drilling companies have since resumed most of their normal operations.

U.S. crude imports rose by 459,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.36 million bpd last week, the API said.

U.S. distillate stocks rose by 2.5 million barrels. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 200,000 barrel rise.

Crude inventories in PADD 3, the Gulf Coast region, rose 1.16 million barrels last week and gasoline stocks in the same region fell by 2.16 million barrels, API data showed.

Along the East Coast, or PADD 1, gasoline stocks fell by 2.3 million barrels.

Crude stocks at the delivery hub of Cushing, Oklahoma fell by 382,000 barrels last week, API said.

Oil futures were little changed after the API data was released. They were trading up 31 cents at $96.85 a barrel as of 4:37 p.m. EDT (2037 GMT), after settling at $96.82 a barrel earlier. (Reporting by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by David Gregorio)