Crude inventories rose again last week, though gasoline supplies dropped yet again, the government said Wednesday.
Crude inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels, or 0.7 percent, to 352 million barrels, which is 18.7 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts had expected a build of 1.2 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 7, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline inventories fell by 1 million barrels, or 0.5 percent, to 211.9 million barrels. That was more than analysts expected and 3.6 percent above year-ago levels.
Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Aug. 7 was about the same as last year, averaging 9.1 million barrels a day.
At the same time, U.S. refineries ran at 83.5 percent of total capacity on average, a drop of 1 percentage point from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to slip to 84.1 percent.
Inventories of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 800,000 barrels to 162.3 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to add 900,000 barrels.
Crude prices increased 78 cents to $70.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
