U.S. crude oil stocks up, gasoline reserves down

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased last week but stockpiles of winter fuel and gasoline declined, the Energy Department reported Wednesday.

In the week ended Oct. 13, the nation's commercial crude oil reserves rose by 5.1 million barrels to 335.6 million, according to the department's weekly survey of petroleum inventories.

Gasoline supplies, however, plunged 5.2 million barrels to 210. 2 million last week, compared with a decline of only 200,000 barrels expected by analysts.

Meanwhile, stockpiles of distillate products, such as heating oil and diesel fuel, dropped by 4.5 million barrels to 145.4 million. The drop was far more than the fall of 800,000 barrels analysts had been forecasting.

But distillate reserves "remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year," according to the survey.

The survey also showed that refineries operated at 86.3 percent of their full capacity last week, down from 89.2 percent in the prior week.

The figures for commercial crude oil inventories do not include the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which currently holds crude oil of about 700 million barrels.

Source: Xinhua