Crude, distillates inventories decline in US

Crude oil prices rose significantly on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration reported that inventories of crude oil were 700,000 barrels lower last week, against an expected rise of 100,000 barrels, although stockpiles at the key Cushing, Oklahoma depot increased by 1.4 million barrels during the week.

Distillates stockpiles, which had been expected to rise by 300,000 barrels during the week ending 7 December, were lower by 800,000 barrels but gasoline inventories were up by 1.6 million barrels, a bit more than had been expected, even though refinery utilization was down by 0.6 percent to 88.8 percent of capacity.

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery added $4.48 to $94.50 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while January contracts for Brent crude were up $3.20 to $93.19 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex January gasoline and heating oil were each 12 cents higher to $2.42 per gallon and $2.65 per gallon respectively, while January natural gas gained 33 cents to $7.41 per million British thermal units.

US at-the-pump prices for gasoline fell again overnight, falling 0.5 cent to $2.99 per gallon on average nationally.