US Crude Oil Inventories (29 Aug 09) dropped slightly

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI)

U.S. crude oil inventories dropped by 0.4 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell from 343.8 million barrels to 343.4 million barrels during the week but remain above the upper boundary of the average range for this week of the year, EIA said.

Gasoline inventories declined by 3 million barrels to 205.1 million barrels, but remain in the upper half of the average range.

Supplies of distillate fuels, which includes heating oil, rose by 1.2 million barrels to 163.6 million barrels.

Finished gasoline inventories and stocks of gasoline blending components both fell during the week, EIA reported.

At 9.2 million barrels a day, demand for gasoline over the past four weeks is 0.5 percent higher than demand during the same period a year ago.

Distillate fuel demand has dropped 7.3 percent in the past four weeks compared to a year ago.

Jet fuel demand is also down, off 12.1 percent from a year ago, the report said.

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