Oil Inventories Fell Last Week But Remain Relatively High

(RTTNews) - Oil and gasoline inventories fell last week, new government data showed Wednesday. However, inventories remain relatively high by historical standards.

For the week ended August 12, U.S. crude oil inventories dropped 2.5 million barrels compared to the previous week. This according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Still, even with the decrease, inventories are currently sitting at 521.1 million barrels, a level the EIA says is historically high for this time of year.

Gasoline inventories were down 2.7 million barrels for the week. But as with oil, the total stockpile level is relatively high. The EIA points out that gasoline inventories are above the upper limit of its average range.

Distillate fuel inventories were up for the week, climbing by 1.9 million barrels compared to the previous week.