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US Crude Oil Inventories Rise, Gasoline Supply Drops Last Week

Posted on: Thursday, 18 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

US crude oil inventories rise, gasoline supply drops last week

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- US commercial crude oil inventories increased last week, but gasoline stockpiles dropped sharply during the peak of the summer driving season, the Energy Department reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

In the week ending Aug. 12, commercial crude oil inventories rose by 0.3 million barrels to 321.1 million, according to the report.

The supply of distillate fuel, including diesel and heating oil, also increased by 1.2 million barrels to 131.1 million.

However, gasoline stockpiles plunged 5.0 million barrels last week to 198.1 million, near the bottom end of the average range for this time of year, the report said.

A parallel survey by the private American Petroleum Institute (API) found that the country's commercial crude oil stocks fell by 1.43 million barrels to 320.85 million last week.

Distillate reserve rose by 2.81 million barrels last week to 128.17 million, according to the API survey. It also found that gasoline stockpiles declined by 5.1 million barrels to 202.51 million.

The figures released by the Energy Department do not include crude oil held in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve(SPR), a facility for emergency use. The stockpile currently holds close to 700 million barrels. The SPR was established in December 1975, following the Arab oil embargo, but the first barrels were not delivered until the summer of 1977.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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