US crude oil supplies down by 200,000 barrels

[June 14, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's crude oil supplies declined slightly last week, the government said Wednesday.

Crude supplies fell by 200,000 barrels, to 384.4 million barrels, which is 5.2 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.

Analysts expected a drop of 2 million barrels for the week ended June 8, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Gasoline supplies dropped by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 201.8 million barrels. That's 6.2 percent less than year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to increase by 1 million barrels.

Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended June 8 was 4.5 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging 8.8 million barrels a day.

U.S. refineries ran at 92 percent of total capacity on average, up 3.3 percentage points from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to fall to 88.4 percent.

Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, decreased by 100,000 barrels to 120 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to grow by 1 million barrels.

Benchmark crude rose 13 cents to $83.45 a barrel in New York.

[Associated Press]

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