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rude oil inventories fell slightly, and distillate fuel and gasoline inventories both rose last week, the Department of Energy said in its weekly inventory report issued Wednesday.

Crude oil supplies fell by 300,000 barrels, below analysts’ forecasts of a 1 million barrel increase, Bloomberg reported.

Gasoline inventories jumped by 3.4 million barrels for the week, much better than predictions of an 800,000-barrel drop, and distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 800,000 barrels, DOE said.

Distillates — which include diesel and heating oil — will become more of a focus as colder weather sets in over the next few months, analysts told Bloomberg.

Benchmark light sweet crude oil prices were up 82 cents to $67.02 a barrel in intraday trading Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

That was off earlier intraday highs that had been caused in part by traders keeping a wary eye on Hurricane Rita’s path in the Gulf of Mexico, Bloomberg said. Oil futures hit an all-time record of $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30 following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall near New Orleans.

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