NEW YORK — The nation's crude oil supplies fell last week, the government said Wednesday.
Crude supplies declined by 10.3 million barrels, or 2.6 percent, to 383.8 million barrels, which is 0.2 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts expected a decrease of 3 million barrels for the week ended June 28, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline supplies shrank by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 223.7 million barrels. That's 9.1 percent above year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to rise by 1 million barrels.
Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended June 28 was equal to a year earlier, averaging 8.9 million barrels a day.
U.S. refineries ran at 92.2 percent of total capacity on average, up 2 percentage points from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to increase to 90.8 percent.
Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.4 million barrels to 120.8 million barrels. Analysts expected distillate stocks to increase by 1.3 million barrels.
Benchmark crude futures rose by $2.20 to $101.80 a barrel in New York.
