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US energy reserves slide
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 08 10 06US crude oil and gasoline inventories fell heavily over the past week, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.
A weekly DoE summary showed crude oil inventories fell 1.1 million barrels to 332.6 million barrels in the week to August 4. Analysts had expected stocks to decline by 1.0 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks showed a much steeper decline of 3.2 million barrels to 207.7 million, the report showed, compared to predictions for a smaller drop of 1.0 million barrels.
It was the biggest fall in US petrol inventories since mid-April, reflecting high demand as many Americans take to the roads for summer vacations.
However, gasoline stocks still remain 0.8 percent higher than at the same stage of 2005, the DoE said.
Reserves of distillates, used for heating oil and diesel, slipped 200,000 million barrels to 132.4 million over the week, it said.
The DoE also reported that US refineries operated at 91.6 percent capacity, up from 90.8 percent in the week before.
AFP 09 1630 GMT 08 06
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