By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a 10th consecutive week as exports remained high and refineries raised their capacity use, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 3.8 million barrels to 408.4 million barrels in the week ended June 26, and were about 7% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have fallen by 3.1 million barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR was down by 5.5 million barrels at 325.7 million barrels on continued emergency releases. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, rose by 709,000 barrels to 19.7 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.8 million barrels a day, practically unchanged from the previous week. Crude imports fell by 291,000 barrels a day to 5.3 million barrels a day, and exports fell by 661,000 barrels a day to 4 million barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 96.6% of capacity, up from 96.1% the week before with crude input to refineries increasing by 85,000 barrels a day to 17.2 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have fallen by 0.3 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 2.3 million barrels to 214 million barrels against expectations of a 700,000 barrel draw, and were 7% below the five-year average. Gasoline demand was 356,000 barrels a day higher at 9.1 million barrels a day.

Distillate fuel stocks rose by 2.5 million barrels to 108.6 million barrels and were 8% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were forecast to have slipped by 100,000 barrels.

Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended June 26: Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use EIA data: -3.8 -2.3 2.5 0.5 Forecast: -3.1 -0.7 -0.1 -0.3

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com