US commercial crude oil inventories declined during the week ending July 8 after a tropical storm disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico, the Energy Department reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

Data released by the department showed that commercial crude oil stockpiles dropped 3.9 million barrels last week to 321 million barrels. Gasoline reserve fell by 2.7 million barrels to 212.6 million barrels.

At the same time, however, supplies of distillate fuel, including diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.2 million barrels to 120.4 million.

A parallel survey by the American Petroleum Institute found that the country's commercial crude oil stocks fell by 1.46 million barrels to 321.65 million last week.

The institute's survey also showed that gasoline stocks increased 684,000 barrels last week and inventories of distillate fuel went up 5.83 million barrels.

Doug McIntyre, an analyst for the Energy Information Administration of the Energy Department, said that "the inventory numbers are a reflection of the outcome of Tropical Storm Cindy."

According to local reports, Tropical Storm Cindy briefly halted production in the Gulf of Mexico last week and disrupted operations at several refineries in Louisiana where it made landfall.

Source: Xinhua