US Crude Inventories Tumbled

U.S. crude inventories fell more than analysts expectations last week, according to data released Wednesday by the the U.S. Department of Energy.

Crude oil stockpiles fell by 6.3 million barrels to 329.1 million barrels, the department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report, compared with an average forecast of a 1.8 million-barrel fall in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts.

Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, gained 1.2 million barrels to 133.1 million barrels, compared with an average survey estimate of a 1.1 million barrel draw.

Gasoline stockpiles rose 1 million barrels to 200.9 million barrels, compared with analysts forecast of a 100,000-barrel increase.

Refining utilization rose 1.6 percentage points to 90.7%. Analysts had expected a 0.7 percentage point gain.