US crude, heating oil inventories slip

WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (AFP) - US commercial crude and heating oil inventories slipped last week, a government survey showed Wednesday.
Crude oil inventories eased 800,000 barrels to 295.1 million in the week ended December 24, the Department of Energy said.
Distillates -- mostly heating fuel and diesel -- fell 800,000 barrels to 119.1 million. Heating fuel stockpiles alone dropped 1.0 million barrels to 48.9 million.
Gasoline inventories unexpectedly rose, climbing 900,000 barrels to 212.3 million.
About half an hour after the figures were released, New York's main crude oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, was down 27 cents at 41.50 dollars a barrel.
A parallel survey by the private American Petroleum Institute found stocks of crude fell 200,000 barrels to 300.1 million, distillates rose 500,000 barrels to 119.4 million and gasoline fell 2.7 million to 207.5 million.
The crude oil data exclude the 674.2-million-barrel US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency supply stored in vast underground salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.

12/29/2004 16:22 GMT - AFP