UPDATE 7-Oil prices rise more than 2% as U.S. crude, products stockpiles fall

* Brent, WTI hit highest levels since end-May
* U.S. crude stocks slump nearly 13 mln bbls as exports peak
-EIA
* PES confirmed plans to shut Pennsylvania refinery -mayor
* U.S.-Iran tensions underpin prices

(Updates with settlement prices, adds commentary)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2%
on Wednesday and hit their highest in about a month, buoyed by
U.S. government data that showed a larger-than-expected drawdown
in crude stocks as exports hit a record high, and surprise drops
in refined product stockpiles.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose $1.44, or 2.2%, to settle
at $66.49 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 futures rose $1.55, or 2.7%, to settle at $59.38 a
barrel.
Crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell 12.8 million barrels
last week, the Energy Information Administration said, far
surpassing analyst expectations for a decrease of 2.5 million
barrels. That was the most since September 2016, according to
the statistical arm of the Department of Energy.
Net U.S. crude imports fell last week by 1.2 million barrels
per day (bpd). Overall crude exports rose to 3.8 million bpd,
beating its previous record of 3.6 million bpd in February.
"A lot of this drawdown is due to strong demand," said Phil
Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "We're
finally seeing the impact of OPEC production cuts and starting
to see Venezuelan cuts."
Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 996,000 barrels, while
distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI fell by 2.4 million barrels,
the EIA data showed.
The product drawdown comes at the same time as news that the
largest and oldest refinery on the U.S. East Coast will be shut
after a massive fire last week caused substantial damage.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions plans to shut down the 335,000
bpd refinery complex next month, the Philadelphia mayor
confirmed after two sources told Reuters about the plans.
U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 were up 4% after climbing to
their highest since May 23 in overnight trade.
"Since the (EIA) data didn't likely pick up the full impact
of the PES down time, an additional sharp reduction in PADD 1
gasoline supplies appears likely in next week's EIA data," Jim
Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.
The crude inventory fall and refinery outage added to
uncertainty over oil supplies created by the war of words
between Washington and Tehran. This has prompted fears that oil
shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest oil
supply route, could be disrupted.
Asked if a war was brewing, U.S. President Donald Trump told
Fox Business Network on Wednesday: "I hope we don't but we're in
a very strong position if something should happen." Tehran has
condemned a fresh round of U.S. sanctions as "mentally
retarded." Bilateral tensions spiked anew after Iran shot down a U.S.
drone last week in the Gulf. Relations have been tense since
Washington blamed attacks on oil tankers just outside the Gulf
on Iran, while Tehran has denied any role.
In the search for longer term direction, markets will watch
the G20 meeting this weekend followed by a meeting of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC
producers, a group known as OPEC+, taking place on July 1-2.
The group is due to discuss extending output cuts for the
second half of this year.
Russia's average oil output was 11.15 million bpd in the
period June 1-25, up from an average of 11.04 million bpd during
June 1-10, two sources familiar with official data said on
Wednesday.