NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's crude oil supplies fell slightly last week, the government said Wednesday.
Crude supplies declined by 100,000 barrels, to 384.6 million barrels, which is 4.2 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts expected a drop of 1 million barrels for the week ended June 1, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline supplies grew by 3.3 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, to 203.5 million barrels. That's 5.1 percent less than year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to increase by 500,000 barrels.
Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended June 1 was 4 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging 8.8 million barrels a day.
U.S. refineries ran at 91 percent of total capacity on average, up 2.9 percentage points from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to rise to 88.7 percent.
Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.3 million barrels to 120 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to grow by 600,000 barrels.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.57 to $85.86 a barrel in New York.
source: nytimes.com
