June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed after rising for the first time in four days yesterday, when a government report showed a bigger-than-forecast inventory decline and an increase in fuel demand.
Crude oil stockpiles fell 3.87 million barrels to 357.7 million, the Energy Department said yesterday. The drop was more than twice the size forecast by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Fuel consumption climbed 1.3 percent to 19 million barrels a day last week, the highest since March. Refineries increased operating rates and gasoline output, the report showed.
“There have been several multimillion-barrel inventory declines recently,” said Rick Mueller, a director of oil markets at Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Massachusetts. “Imports have been in the 8-to-9 million-barrel- a-day area, which is just not enough to maintain stockpiles during this period of high refinery runs.”
Crude oil for July delivery fell 4 cents to $70.99 a barrel at 8:22 a.m. Sydney time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 59 percent this year. Yesterday, futures rose 56 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $71.03 a barrel.
Oil dropped earlier yesterday after the Energy Department report showed that fuel stockpiles increased. Gasoline inventories climbed 3.39 million barrels to 205 million last week, the biggest gain since January. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 308,000 barrels to 150 million. more...
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