Crude Oil Supply Rises Less Than Expected

U.S. crude oil inventories rose less than expected last week as imports fell to their lowest level in 3 1/2 months, an industry report showed.

The 1.42-million-barrel inventory gain reported by the American Petroleum Institute was about half the size of the increase expected by analysts.

Imports of crude oil fell for a second straight week, dropping 2.5% to 8.39 million barrels a day, the lowest since the week ended March 2. Analysts had expected a rebound in imports after an 8% drop the week before, when Tropical Storm Allison disrupted deliveries at Gulf of Mexico ports.

Crude oil futures fell in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the report. The July contract recently was down 19 cents at $27.29 a barrel.

The rise in crude inventories wasn’t enough to offset the previous week’s 13.2-million-barrel drop, the largest in 2 1/2 years. The gain left supplies at 313.6 million barrels, 7.8% higher than a year earlier, compared with a 5.8% surplus the week before.