HOUSTON, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil inventories increased in the week ending Nov. 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 5.8 million barrels last week. At 431.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 3 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
In the previous week ending Oct. 26, EIA reported a buildup of 3.2 million barrels of U.S. crude oil inventories, which was below the market forecast of 4.1 million barrels and caused concerns on demand side.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.5 million barrels last week. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 4.8 million barrels last week.
Oil prices decreased on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories recorded a seventh consecutive increase.
The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery dropped 0.54 U.S. dollar to settle at 61.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent crude for December delivery was down 0.06 dollar to close at 72.07 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
