US oil supplies reach 82-year high

U.S. crude oil inventories rose to an 82-year high in the week ending Friday, the Energy Information Administration said. In a report released late Wednesday, the agency said inventories added 6.7 million barrels to 395.3 million barrels. Market analyst Dominick Chirichella noted the figure was a peak since government record-keeping on oil supplies began in 1931. The EIA said supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, rose by 500,000 barrels to 115.8 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 1.8 million barrels to 216 million barrels this week, but are in the middle of the average range for this time of year. The national average price of unleaded gasoline moved lower for the ninth consecutive week, dropping 1.6 cents to $3.52 per gallon, putting the price of gasoline 31 cents lower than in the same week of 2012.