Crude Oil, Distillate Supplies Drop; Gasoline Rises

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rude oil inventories and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose more than expected last week, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

Crude supplies dropped 2.4 million barrels, distillates — which include diesel fuel and heating oil — dropped 500,000 barrels and gasoline rose 4.4 million barrels, DOE said in its weekly inventory report.

Forecasts had called for a 2.25 million barrel decline in gasoline inventories, Bloomberg reported.



After falling 75 cents Tuesday to close at $65.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark light sweet crude oil futures rose $1.28 Wednesday to close at $66.35 Wednesday, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency said it will have delivered 35 million barrels of crude oil and refined products to world energy markets by the end of October, Bloomberg reported.

Another 20 million barrels may be available too, including some oil offered in a separate U.S. loan program set up following Hurricane Katrina, Bloomberg reported.

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