Big oil inventories in U.S. draw again

HOUSTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined while gasoline inventory levels rose for the second week in a row, a report from U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday.

In its weekly report, the Energy Information Administration said the country's falling oil glut saw its commercial crude stocks decline by 5.1 million barrels last week.

However, gasoline inventories grew by 5.7 million barrels with a less demand for fuel from motorists in holiday travel weeks between the Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The saving grace for petroleum products is that distillate fuel oil stocks fell by 1.4 million barrels. In addition to making diesel, distillates are also used to produce heating oil, especially during the winter months.

The inventories news comes amid weeks of increases in oil prices, spurring U.S. oil drilling and production activities to keep growing, especially with Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreeing last month to extend their oil production cuts through 2018. Enditem