The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday showed that U.S. crude supplies declined by 6 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 22, according to sources, compared with expectations for a drawdown of 3.75 million barrels. However, the API data also showed a gain of 3.1 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates rose by 2.8 million barrels, sources said. Supplies at the crude hub in Cushing, Okla., were down 1.3 million barrels, versus forecasts for a decline of 590,000. Supply data from the more closely followed Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday. Both inventory reports are delayed by a day because of the Christmas holiday. February crude was down 0.7% at $59.58 a barrel in electronic trading, off from the settlement of $59.64 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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