U.S. crude oil and gasoline stocks fall sharply: EIA

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. crude inventories fell last week for the second straight time as imports remained low while gasoline supplies dropped much more than expected, the Energy Information Administration said in weekly data released Wednesday.

U.S. crude futures rose $2 to more than $62 a barrel after the EIA issued its weekly oil data. The gasoline supply draw in the world’s top energy consumer comes as millions of Americans gear up to take to the road for the May 23-25 Memorial Day holiday weekend, seen as the start of the summer driving season.

“The EIA numbers confirmed directionally what has been felt in the cash market, which had been tightening of late in many geographic regions,” said Tom Knight, a trader with Truman Arnold in Texarkana, Texas.

Commercial crude inventories in the United States fell 2.1 million barrels to 368.5 million barrels in the week ended May 15, EIA said, compared with a modest 200,000-barrel decline forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Reuters