register now for free unlimited access to reuterscom register crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the cushing oil hub in cushing oklahoma march 24 2016 reutersnick oxfordfile photo aug 31 reuters  crude stocks fell in the most recent week while distillate inventories rose slightlyand demand rebounded the us energy information administration said wednesday oil prices have slumped on concerns about demand but us demand figures improved modestly allaying some of those fears refinery activity fell as maintenance season approaches though refiners still face a challenge in restocking distillate inventories before the winter crude inventories usoilceci fell by 33 million barrels in the week to aug 26 to 4183 million barrels a steeper decline than the 15 millionbarrel drop forecasters predicted in a reuters poll distillate stockpiles usoildeci which include diesel and heating oil rose by 111000 barrels to 1117 million barrels versus expectations for a 960000barrel drop at this time a year ago distillate stocks were at 1367 million barrels the biggest decline was on the east coast among the busiest areas of the country for heating oil use distillate stocks stopped their slide into the abyss and started building which is whats needed in the current market environment but the build is small and will need to be much greater as we head past september said robert yawger director of energy futures at mizuho us gasoline product supplied rose in the most recent week but over the last four weeks is down 64 from a year ago total product supplied hit 201 million bpd but is down 64 from a year earlier we saw a snapback in gasoline demand from the week before but it’s still not as impressive as we’d like to see it’s a mixed bag on demand but total supplied back above 20 million barrels a day is very supportive said phil flynn analyst at price futures group in chicago refinery utilization rates usoiruecifell by 11 percentage points to 927 and should fall further ahead of maintenance season oil prices rose modestly on the news but were down on the day us crude lost 13 to 9036 a barrel while brent dropped 28 to 9652 a barrel reporting by david gaffen stephanie kelly and laura sanicola editing by david gregorio