EIA: US crude stockpiles gain 1.6 million barrels last week

Crude oil prices fluctuated between gains and declines Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration released its weekly inventories report for the week ending 14 November.

At 1:37 p.m. in New York December contracts , which expire at the close of trade on Thursday, were down 15 cents to $54.24 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices for WTI were up 63 cents just before the EIA report was issued, declined shortly after the data was released and then fluctuated.

The EIA reported that crude oil inventories were up by 1.6 million barrels last week and gasoline stockpiles jumped by 500,000 barrels but distillates in stock fell by 1.5 million barrels during the week.

Refinery utilization, according to the EIA, was up 0.3 percent to 84.9 percent after expectations that utilization would decline by 0.3 percent.

The EIA also said that at-the-pump gasoline prices dropped below $3 per gallon on average in all major regions of the US last week and dropped below $2 per gallon in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions, with prices lowest in the Midwest.

The retail price for regular unleaded gasoline dropped to $2.047 per gallon on average nationally overnight.

Nymex gasoline futures were down a cent to $1.13 per gallon in afternoon trade.