Crude oil supplies hold steady

U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 300,000 barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. The agency said inventories dropped to 374.1 million barrels. Supplies of crude oil remain well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, the agency said. Supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, also fell -- declining by 800,000 barrels to 112 million barrels. Inventories of distillate fuels, however, are "well below" the lower limit of the average range, the agency said. Stockpiles of gasoline rose by 3.9 million barrels to 204.3 million barrels this week, in the lower half of the average range. The national average price of gasoline rose after dropping four consecutive weeks. The average price rose by 0.8 cents to $3.437 per gallon. The current average price is 13 cents more than the price in the same week of 2011, the agency said.