Oil prices remain lower

[notiCIas]

Oil prices remain lower

Government report says crude stocks rose more than expected, but distillates missed forecasts.

June 2, 2005: 10:50 AM EDT



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Oil prices remained lower Thursday after a government report showed that crude supplies in the U.S. rose far more than expected last week, but that supplies of distillates used for heating were far short of forecasts.

Light sweet crude oil futures for July delivery slipped 20 cents to $54.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract logged a $2.63 gain on Wednesday, the biggest one-day rise since Feb. 22, and prices are up 16 percent over the past two weeks.

Just before the release from the Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude was down about 35 cents at $54.25.

The EIA said crude oil inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels the week ended May 27, far more than the 250,000 barrel rise forecast by analysts polled by Briefing.com.

Gasoline inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels, beating Briefing.com's forecast for a 400,000 barrel rise; and distillate fuel rose by 700,000 barrels, versus forecasts for a 1.5 million barrel rise.

The announcement from the EIA came a day later than usual because Federal government offices were closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day.