US oil reserves up for 1st time in 3 yrs

US proved crude oil reserves last year rose for the first time in three years and natural gas reserves had their biggest annual increase since 1970, the government’s top energy forecasting agency has said.

Crude oil reserves jumped 1.8 per cent in 2005 from the year before to 21.757 billion barrels and natural gas reserves soared 6.2 per cent to 204.4 trillion cubic feet, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.