U.S. oil supplies drop in week

The agency said in Wednesday's report that crude inventories dropped to 357.6 million barrels during the week, with supplies remaining above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.

Gasoline inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels to 207.7 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles are listed as above the upper limit of the average range.

Supplies of distillate fuels, which include heating oil, fell by 1.1 million barrels to 158.8 million barrels.

Inventories of finished gasoline and stocks of gasoline blending components also fell during the week, the energy agency reported.

Using a four-week rolling average, demand for motor gasoline, averaging 9.1 million barrels per day, was 1.8 percent higher than the same period a year ago. Demand for distillate fuel, at 4.1 million barrels per day, rose 13.9 percent from a year ago.

Demand for jet fuel in the week was 1.5 percent higher than a year ago, the administration said.

The national average retail price for gasoline rose from a week ago and came in 2.7 cents higher than the previous week and 26.3 cents higher than year ago with an average price of $2.892 per gallon on Nov. 15.

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