U.S. gasoline stocks fall to new record low: EIA

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories fell more than expected last week as refinery utilization rates sank to record lows following hurricanes Gustav and Ike, according to a U.S. government report released Wednesday.

U.S. stockpiles of gasoline fell 5.9 million barrels to 178.7 million barrels last week, sinking to a new record low, according to the weekly report from the federal Energy Information Administration.

Analysts had expected a 4 million barrel draw.

Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, declined by 4.2 million barrels to 125.4 million, more than the 1.5 million barrel draw analysts anticipated.

The EIA said domestic commercial supplies of crude oil fell 1.5 million barrels to 290.2 million barrels in the week to September 19, less than analyst expectations that supplies would fall 2 million barrels.

U.S. refinery utilization fell 10.7 percentage points to 66.7 percent, the lowest level ever recorded.

(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede)