U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 3.03 million barrels to 423.7 million in the week ended Aug. 1, according to the Energy Information Administration. Analysts had expected little change after the previous week’s 7.7-million-barrel build. Gasoline stockpiles declined 1.32 million barrels to 227.1 million, while distillate supplies slipped 565,000 barrels to 113.0 million. Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub—key for West Texas Intermediate futures—rose 453,000 barrels. Refinery utilization climbed 1.5 percentage points to 96.9%, the highest since June, helping draw down finished-product inventories. Domestic crude production eased by about 30,000 barrels a day to 13.284 million. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve added 235,000 barrels. Including refined products and the SPR, total U.S. petroleum inventories increased 2.29 million barrels. Implied product demand fell 1.27 million barrels a day to 20.1 million, reflecting weaker consumption in the latest week.