Oil Falls After Report Shows Supplies Rose More Than Expected

`We finally got the distillate number we were longing for,” said Marshall Steeves, an analyst at Refco Group Inc. in New York. “There was a recovery in refinery runs, which led to an increase in distillate stocks that was well above expectations.”
Crude oil for January delivery fell $1.03, or 2.1 percent, to $48.10 a barrel at 11:08 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have declined 14 percent from a record of $55.67 on Oct. 25. Futures are 60 percent higher than a year ago.

In London, the January Brent crude-oil futures contract fell $1.14, or 2.5 percent, to $44.37 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. Brent futures reached $51.95 on Oct. 27, the highest since the contract began in 1988.

The rate of refinery operations was the highest since the week ended Sept. 10, the last week before Hurricane Ivan led to the closure of plants in states along the Gulf of Mexico.

Heating oil supplies jumped 1 million barrels, or 2.2 percent, to 49.9 million. Crude oil inventories rose 849,000 barrels to 293.2 million, the highest since the week ended Aug. 6. Oil stockpiles have increased 8.9 percent in the last 10 weeks. Gasoline supplies rose 3 million barrels to 205.7 million, the highest since August.

Bloomberg