Oil supplies virtually flat in week

U.S. crude oil inventories fell slightly in the week that ended Friday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. The agency said crude oil inventories fell for the third week out of the past four, dropping by 100,000 barrels to 387.2 million barrels. Stockpiles remain above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, fell by 2.3 million barrels to 118.9 million barrels with inventories in the lower limit of the average range. Stockpiles of gasoline rose by 2.1 million barrels to 204.8 million barrels in the current week. Inventories of finished gasoline and blending components increased, the agency said. The EIA said the national average price of regular gasoline fell for the twelfth consecutive week with the price dropping 9.6 cents to a national retail average of $3.437 per gallon June 25. The average price of gasoline came in 13.7 cents under the price from the same week of 2011.