US Oil Reserves Increased

The US Energy Department reported that US commercial oil inventories increased, but gasoline stocks declined last week.

The report showed that commercial crude oil inventories rose 2.4 million barrels last week to 317.1 million, 8 percent higher than a year ago. Last week's gain was just shy of the 2.5-million-barrel advance expected by financial markets.

Crude oil inventories in the country have risen 22.8 million barrels over the past eight weeks.

Gasoline stocks dropped 2.1 million barrels last week to 212.3 million, which was in line with market forecasts. Even with the drop, reserves of gasoline were about 5.5 percent higher than the levels at the same time last year.

Supplies of distillate fuel, including diesel and heating fuel, grew by 700,000 barrels last week to 104.1 million barrels, or slightly higher than year ago levels. The data on commercial crude oil inventories does not include US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.