Crude oil supplies gain modestly

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels to 393.8 million barrels last week, UPI quoted the Energy Information Administration as saying. Crude oil stockpiles are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, the EIA said. The agency, in a report released Wednesday, said supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, fell by 1.2 million barrels to 122.1 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 rose 2.7 million barrels to 221.5 million barrels this week but are above the upper limit of the average range for this period. The national average price of unleaded gasoline rose during the week, gaining 0.9 cents per gallon to reach $3.655 per gallon, putting the price of gasoline 8.3 cents above the same week of 2012.