US crude oil supplies grew by 1.5 million barrels

[November 16, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's crude oil supplies increased last week, the government said Thursday.

Crude supplies grew by 1.1 million barrels, or 0.3 percent, to 375.9 million barrels, which is 11.6 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.

Analysts expected an increase of 1.5 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 9, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Gasoline supplies shrank by 400,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 201.9 million barrels. That's 1.6 percent lower than year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to be unchanged from the previous week.

Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Nov. 9 was 0.7 percent higher than a year earlier, averaging 8.6 million barrels a day.

U.S. refineries ran at 86 percent of total capacity on average, up 0.6 percentage point from the prior week. That matched analysts' expectations.

Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels to 115.5 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to decline by 500,000 barrels.

Benchmark crude futures fell 42 cents to $85.90 a barrel in New York.

[Associated Press]

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