HOUSTON - U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week to a two-year low on strengthened demand, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday, while crude inventories also posted a surprise drawdown as imports slipped.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2.7 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 25 to 210.9 million barrels, their lowest since November 2022. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 600,000-barrel build.

Gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, rose to 9.2 million barrels per day from 8.8 million bpd a week earlier and marked its highest level since the week ending Oct. 4.

"It looks like we are back to counter-seasonal draws. This displays healthier demand and less robust supply than consensus expectations," said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests.

"If these inventory declines continue, oil prices may rise and OPEC+ may return barrels to the market."

U.S. gasoline futures extended gains after the data, while U.S. crude and Brent crude futures were little changed.

Crude stocks fell by 515,000 barrels to 425.5 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations for a 2.3 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 681,000 barrels.

Net U.S. crude imports fell by 605,000 bpd to 1.7 million bpd, as exports ticked up 149,000 bpd to 4.3 million bpd.

Imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia fell to their lowest point last week since January 2021, at just 13,000 bpd, down from 150,000 bpd on the week. Crude imports from Canada, Iraq, Colombia, Brazil all slipped on the week.

"Lower imports helped crude inventories eke out a minor draw," said Matt Smith, analyst at Kpler.

Refinery crude runs fell by 31,000 bpd and refinery utilization rates slipped by 0.4 percentage points to 89.1% of total capacity.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1 million barrels to 112.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

U.S. heating oil futures pared gains after the report showed the smaller-than-expected draw.

Petroleum products supplied, a proxy for demand, rose to its highest level last week since November 2023.

"Quite a supportive dataset, with draws across commercial crude and refined products, supported by strong implied oil demand," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst with UBS.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Marguerita Choy)