December 14, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1427

WASHINGTON, Dec 13: US energy inventories fell across the board in the past week as a winter cold snap pushed up demand for fuels, government data showed on Wednesday. The Department of Energy said inventories of crude oil slumped 4.3 million barrels to 335.4 million in the week ended December 8. That was much more than the decline of 1.3 million barrels predicted by analysts.

Levels of distillate products, such as heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 500,000 barrels to 131.9 million over the week, double the fall expected by analysts. —AFP