US crude oil supplies increase

U.S. crude oil supplies rose again last week, the government said Wednesday. Crude supplies increased by 4.1 million barrels, or 1.1 percent, to 383.9 million barrels, which is 2.9 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said. Analysts expected an increase of 3.5 million barrels for the week ended October 25, according to McGraw-Hill’s Platts. Gasoline supplies fell by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 213.8 million barrels. That is 7.2 percent more than year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to rise by 1.5 million barrels. Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended October 25 was up 3.2 percent from a year ago, averaging 8.9 million barrels a day. U.S. refineries ran at 87.3 percent of total capacity on average, up 1.4 percentage points from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to rise to 86 percent. Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.1 million barrels to 122.7 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to fall by 1.2 million barrels. Benchmark crude futures fell 82 cents to $97.38 a barrel in early Wednesday trading in New York.