Crude oil inventories up

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels last week, keeping inventories above the seasonal average, the Energy Information Administration said. The agency said Wednesday inventories climbed to 384 million barrels in the week ending Friday. The EIA said supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, rose by 100,000 barrels to 120.4 million barrels. Inventories of distillate fuels are in the lower half of the average range for this time of year, the agency said. Stockpiles of gasoline fell by 3.6 million barrels to 224.3 million barrels this week, but remain in the middle of the average range for this time of year. The national average price of unleaded gasoline shed 4.9 cents to $3.71 per gallon, putting the price of gasoline 11.9 cents lower than the same week of 2012.