EIA reports a bigger-than-expected weekly fall in U.S. crude supply; gasoline stocks climb

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Wednesday showed that domestic crude supplies fell by 5.1 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 8. That was bigger than the forecast for a decline of 4 million barrels from analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday had reported a drop of 7.4 million barrels, according to sources. Gasoline stockpiles, however, rose 5.7 million barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles declined by 1.4 million barrels, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast a supply rise of 1.6 million barrels for gasoline and an increase of 500,000 barrels for distillates. January crude rose 12 cents, or 0.2%, from Tuesday to $57.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, little changed from before the supply data. January gasoline fell by 1.1 cents, or 0.7%, to $1.687 a gallon.

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