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Steep drop in US crude oil inventories
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 12 29 06US crude oil inventories fell sharply over the past week but stockpiles for key refined energy products rose, government data showed Thursday.
The US Department of Energy said crude oil stockpiles slid 8.1 million barrels to 321 million in the week ended December 22. The drawdown was much steeper than 2.5 million-barrel decline expected by Wall Street analysts.
The "surprise crude draw is likely to add price volatility," said Jason Schenker at Wachovia Securities.After the report, the benchmark crude futures contract dipped 33 cents to 60.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The DoE report showed levels of distillate products, such as heating oil and diesel fuel, increased 500,000 barrels to 133.6 million over the week, in line with most forecasts.
Gasoline or petrol reserves rose 3.0 million barrrels to 203.9 million, the DoE report showed, against expectations of a rise of 725,000 barrels.
AFP 28 1544 GMT 12 06
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