US oil inventories up again

US oil inventories rose again, for the twelfth time in thirteen weeks, for the week ending May 6 according to the weekly report from the US Department of Energy.

This news drove the price of crude oil, gasoline, and derivatives down in mid-day trade in New York and late-day trading in London.

In early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate June futures dropped 97 cents to $51.10 per barrel, while in late afternoon trading in London, IPE Brent June delivery fell 82 cents to $50.61 per barrel.

Additionally, June Nymex unleaded gasoline went down 1.73 cents to $1.493 per gallon, while June Nymex heating oil declined by 2.71 cents to $1.4240 per gallon. Crude oil inventories were reported up by 2.7 million barrels, to 327.9 million barrels.

This increase was over an expected 1.5 million barrel increase, and came despite a drop in crude oil imports on the week.

The report also showed a 200,000 barrel addition to gasoline inventories and a 1.7 million barrel rise in distillate inventories.

At the same time, distillate demand fell on the week as warmer weather arrived, while gasoline demand went up in anticipation of the start of the US summer driving season that begins the with the Memorial Day holiday on last weekend in May.