U.S. crude stocks rose much more than analysts expected last week, the first gain in six weeks as refineries cut output in the less-active maintenance season, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories swelled by 4.9 million barrels in the week to Oct. 7, trouncing the build of 650,000 barrels that analysts had forecast. It followed five consecutive weeks of drawdowns attributed to refiners running down stocks and as imports have declined from late August. Refinery crude runs fell by 480,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates fell by 2.8 percentage points. “This report shows the effects of refinery maintenance hitting its peak for this autumn,” said David Thompson, executive vice-president at energy-specialized commodities broker Powerhouse in Washington. Oil prices were slightly higher, after […]