Easing supply fears, US crude oil inventories sharply higher

WASHINGTON - US crude oil stockpiles increased sharply over the past week, government and private surveys showed Wednesday, easing market concerns about a supply crunch.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) said crude stockpiles for the week ending April 22 increased 5.5 million barrels to 324.4 million barrels.
The private-sector American Petroleum Industry, compiling its own figures, reported an increase of 5.66 million barrels to 324.66 million.
The DoE also reported that gasoline stockpiles dropped 300,000 barrels to 211.3 million over the week. The API survey showed a fall of 1.07 million barrels to 213.11 million.
Analysts had been predicting a rise of just 650,000 barrels of crude oil and a drop of 1.2 million barrels of gasoline, so the reports were better than expected.
Around 1450 GMT New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, fell 1.20 dollars to 53 dollars a barrel.

04/27/2005 15:01 GMT