The Energy Information Administration reported Friday that U.S. crude deposits rose 4.4 million barrels for the week ending Jan. 15. The data, which was postponed two days due to Martin Luther King on Monday, was released. Jr. days and the inauguration of the U.S. president on Wednesday, compared to the average decline of 2.5 million barrels predicted by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday announced a 2.6 million-barrel increase. EIA data also showed that crude stock at the Cushing, Okla. Storage facility, had declined 4.7 million barrels for the week. Gasoline supply, meanwhile, fell 300,000 million barrels, and distillate stocks went up 500,000 barrels. The S&P Global Platts survey had forecast an increase of 2.7 million barrels for gasoline and 600,000 barrels for brewers. March West Texas Raw Intermediate CLH21,
loss followed the data, trading down 67 cents, or 1.2%, at $ 52.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were at $ 52.49 before the supply data.