US commercial stockpiles of crude oil, gasoline and distillates grew last week, a closely watched government survey showed today.
In the week ending December 3, inventories of crude oil rose 600,000 barrels to 293.9 million, gasoline climbed 2.4 million barrels to 208.1 million, and distillates rose 1.4 million barrels to 119.3 million, according to the Department of Energy.
A breakdown of distillates showed heating oil inventories - a major concern in the northern hemisphere winter - rose 100,000 barrels to 50 million while diesel climbed 1.6 million barrels to 67.8 million.
A parallel survey by the private American Petroleum Institute found stocks of crude climbed 600,000 barrels to 295.1 million and gasoline rose 2.6 million barrels to 207.3 million but distillates fell 1.2 million barrels to 120.8 million.
The crude oil inventories data exclude the 673.3-million-barrel US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency supply stored in huge underground salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.
