Crude-oil futures declined for the third consecutive session Wednesday, trading below $73 a barrel after U.S. government data showed gasoline demand is weakening due to higher retail prices for motor fuel. The Energy Department said gasoline demand is up only 0.3 percent over the past four weeks, compared with the same period in 2005. But at the same time last year, demand for the four-week period had risen 1.5 percent over the previous year. The average retail price of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is now $2.91 a gallon (3.8 liters), 68 cents higher than a year ago and the fourth-highest price ever recorded by the Energy Department. Light sweet crude for June delivery fell 48 cents to $72.40 a barrel in late morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where prices hit a record intraday high on Friday of $75.35. Despite this week's declines, oil prices remain about one-third higher than a year ago because of geopolitical tensions and the lack of surplus capacity available in the case of a serious supply disruption. In its weekly report, the Energy Department said U.S. inventories of crude fell by 200,000 barrels to 345 million barrels, or 5.6 percent above year-ago levels. Gasoline supplies shrank by 1.9 million barrels to 200.6 million barrels, or 5.6 percent below levels last year. Inventories of distillates—including heating oil, diesel, and jet fuel—increased by 1 million barrels to 115.6 million barrels, or 10.6 percent higher than last year. U.S. refineries ran at 88.2 percent of their capacity, up 2 percent from a week ago, while crude-oil imports rose by 199,000 barrels a day to 9.86 million barrels a day, the department said.
