US Oil supplies remain high

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels in the week ending Friday, the Energy Information Administration said. In a report released late Wednesday, the agency said inventories climbed to 388.6 million barrels and remain well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Including the previous week, inventories have risen by 6 million barrels. The EIA said supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, fell by 2.3 million barrels to 113 million barrels. Inventories of distillate fuels are near the lower limit of the average range for this time of year, the agency said. Stockpiles of gasoline fell 600,000 barrels to 220.7 million barrels this week but remain in the middle of the average range for this time of year. The national average price of unleaded gasoline shed 3.5 cents to $3.645 per gallon, putting the price of gasoline 29.6 cents lower than the same week of 2012. It was the fifth consecutive week gasoline prices have dropped, EIA said.