Crude oil stockpile rises

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels last week, about half of what economists expected, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

The agency said Wednesday inventories climbed to 377.5 million barrels with supplies of crude oil "well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year."

The EIA said supplies of distillate fuels, which include home heating oil, rose by 600,000 barrels to 124.2 million barrels. Inventories of distillate fuels are in the lower half of the average range for this time of year, the agency said.

Stockpiles of gasoline fell by 1.9 million barrels to 228.5 million barrels this week, but remain in the upper half of the average range for this time of year.

The national average price of gasoline rose for the 10th consecutive week to $3.784 per gallon, adding 3.7 cents in the week.

The price of gasoline as of Monday stood at 6.3 cents higher than the same week a year earlier.

The current average price is 22.5 cents more than the price in same week of 2011, the agency said.