| After reporting a sharp increase in U.S. crude oil inventories in the previous week, the Energy Information Administration released a report on Wednesday showing crude oil inventories pulled back in line with estimates in the week ended May 3rd. The report said crude oil inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels last week after surging by 7.3 million barrels in the previous week. At 459.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said. Meanwhile, the report said gasoline inventories rose by 0.9 million barrels last week but remain about 2 percent below the five-year average for this time of year. Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also crept up by 0.6 million barrels last week but remain about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year. Powered by Commodity Insights |