The US Fuel Inventories Rose

The commercial inventories of crude oil, gasoline and distillate products in the United States all rose over the past week, the Department of Energy reported on Wednesday.

The report said that commercial stocks of crude oil increased by 400,000 barrels for the week ended on November 18 to 321.8 million barrels. That was in line with the expectations by many analysts.

The departments also reported that the inventory of motor gasoline also rose by 200,000 barrels to total 200.4 million barrels, but much less than expected.

Meanwhile, inventories of distillate supplies, which are used to make heating oil and diesel fuel, increased for a second straight week by 1.1 million barrels to 124.5 million barrels, nearly double the amount forecast.

Analysts said that the higher inventory levels suggest that US oil companies have been able to rebuild their stocks after their operations were hit by hurricanes in August and September.