: EIA reports a weekly drop of nearly 11 million barrels for U.S. crude supplies

The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 10.6 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 25. On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights expected the report to show a decrease of 5.2 million barrels. The EIA report revealed a supply decline of 200,000 barrels for gasoline, while distillate stockpiles edged up by 1.2 million barrels. Analysts had forecast weekly inventory declines of 600,000 barrels for gasoline and 1.4 million barrels for distillates. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., Nymex delivery hub fell by 1.5 million barrels for the week, the EIA said. Oil futures extended their early gains, with October West Texas Intermediate crude CLV23 up 68 cents, or 0.8%, at $81.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $81.72 before the supply data.

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