Crude Oil Futures Rise After Report of Falling U.S. Inventories

Crude oil and heating oil jumped after the Energy Department reported a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. inventories last week as Hurricane Katrina cut production.

Crude-oil supplies fell 6.6 million barrels to 308.4 million last week, the third straight weekly decline, according to the report. A drop of 2 million barrels was expected, according to the median of forecasts by 14 analysts. Imports fell 4.2 percent to 9.1 million barrels. Supplies of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, also fell.
Bloomberg