U.S. crude-oil inventories rose more than expected last week as imports jumped to their second-highest level on record, the Energy Department reported Wednesday. Crude futures continued to decline after the report was released. Commercial crude supplies rose by 2.4 million barrels to 332.8 million barrels, or 6 percent above levels a year ago, the department s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report. The unexpected rise in supplies came as imports surged to a weekly average of 11.15 million barrels per day, it said. Commercial inventories of distillates including diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel rose 1.3 million barrels last week, as analysts had expected, while gasoline supplies rose 400,000 barrels, in contrast to expectations for a decline of 700,000 barrels. Supplies of gasoline are 5 percent above year-ago levels, while distillate inventories are nearly 1 percent below last year s levels. Analysts are shifting attention from gasoline to distillates as the summer driving season nears its end and the winter heating season is coming. A separate report by the private American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude inventories up last week by 3.5 million barrels, gasoline supplies up 783,000 barrels, and distillate inventories up 1.7 million barrels. Light sweet crude for October delivery fell 51 cents to $69.20 a barrel in late-morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decline extends two days of sharp drops that brought oil futures to $69.71 on Tuesday, 10 percent below their level of three weeks ago.
