US crude oil inventories fell much more than expected last week on higher demand from domestic refiners and a drop in imports, the government said on Wednesday. Gasoline supplies, meanwhile, rose much more than expected as high pump prices left demand weak in the run-up to the July 4 holiday weekend. Commercial stockpiles of crude oil in the United States decreased by 2 million barrels to 299.8 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said. This by far topped analysts' expectations that stocks fell 100,000 barrels. “The 2-million-barrel draw in crude stocks was supportive, as imports remained relatively low for this time of year and refinery runs rose about as expected,” said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York. The draw came as US crude oil imports averaged 10.17 million barrels per day last week, down 83,000 bpd from the previous week. Refinery runs were up 155,000 bpd at 15.41 million bpd, while domestic refiners boosted capacity utilization by 0.6 percentage point to 89.2 percent, the report showed. US gasoline supplies, meanwhile, rose 2.1 million barrels to 210.9 million barrels, the EIA said. That countered analysts' estimates of a drop in stocks of 200,000 barrels. “Gasoline stocks are up much more than expected, indicating very poor demand at this time, when they should be up,” noted Kyle Cooper, research director at IAF Advisors in Houston. “It shows that Americans are changing their driving habits, as we are dealing with record high gasoline prices,” he said. Stocks of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.3 million barrels to 120.7 million barrels, while analysts on average projected they would be up by 1.9 million barrels. A separate report by the American Petroleum Institute showed that US petroleum supplies fell 1.3 million barrels, while gasoline stocks rose 103,000 barrels and distillates inventories fell 10,000 barrels. Oil prices climbed on Wednesday ahead of the weekly US energy reserves report as the OPEC crude producers' cartel called on the United States to stop badgering its members to increase output. New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, added 39 cents to $141.36 a barrel. Brent North Sea oil for AugusMeanwhile, Angola, which is rivaling Nigeria as Africa's major oil producer, said Wednesday it planned to increase production by 100,000 barrels a day before the end of the year and invest massively in exploration and production. “Production is actually 1.9 million barrels per day and it will reach 2.0 million barrels by the end of the year,” Angolan Oil Minister Desiderio Costa said at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid. The president of the Sonangol national oil company, Manuel Vincente, said the country's production plan and reserves would allow it “to maintain this production (2.0 million bpd) rhythm for four or five years.”
