Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil inventories fell by 3.14 million barrels last week to 334.4 million, the American Petroleum Institute said today.
Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, dropped by 834,000 barrels to 158.7 million. Gasoline inventories rose 1.74 million barrels to 232 million.
The Energy Department is scheduled to release its inventory report tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.
Oil-supply totals from the API and DOE moved in the same direction 75 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey.
Crude oil for April delivery fell $1.31, or 1.6 percent, to $79 a barrel at 4:32 p.m. in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $78.80 a barrel before release of the report at 4:30 p.m.
--Still short from last week avg now around 79
