EIA: Crude Inventories up by 1.3 Million Barrels

The Energy Information Administration's weekly status report showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels of oil when compared to the week before.

At 336.1 million barrels, inventories were in the upper limit of the historical average for this time of year, according to EIA's weekly report.

Gasoline inventories also rose, increasing to 5.1 million barrels as of Dec. 2.

The weekly status' report showed crude imports as of Dec. 2 averaged 9.4 million barrels per day, up 375,000 from the week before and more than the average of total crude imports into the U.S. for the past four weeks.

The average number of barrels of crude entering the country in the past four weeks was 8.8 million barrels, up 248,000 from the year-ago period.

In the week ending Dec. 2, refineries in the U.S. averaged 15.2 million barrels a day, or 682,000 barrels per day more than the previous week. Gasoline production, however, decreased last week, averaging 9.1 million barrels per day.