NEW YORK - Crude oil fell more than $1 a barrel after a government report showed that US inventories climbed to the highest since 1993 because of falling demand.

Supplies rose 3.3 million barrels to 356.6 million last week, the Energy Department said yesterday. Inventories were forecast to increase by 1.1 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, dropped as refineries cut operating rates.

Crude oil for May delivery fell $1.21 to settle at $52.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 18 percent this year.

It was the 22d inventory gain in 26 weeks. The increase left supplies 13 percent higher than the five-year average for the period, the department said.

Imports of crude oil increased 204,000 barrels a day to 9.38 million in the week ended March 20, the highest level in six weeks, the report showed.

Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, where New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude is delivered, fell 2.21 million barrels to 31.7 million last week. Supplies in the week ended Feb. 6 were the highest since at least April 2004, when the Energy Department began keeping records for the location.

"It's hard to get bullish about crude oil with inventories at the highest since 1993," said Tom Bentz, a senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York. "The only thing that's positive for crude prices is the fall in supplies at Cushing."

Consumption of fuels rose 2.2 percent to 19.2 million barrels a day last week. Total daily fuel demand averaged over the past four weeks was 19.1 million barrels, down 3.2 percent from a year earlier.

Refineries operated at 82 percent of capacity, down 0.1 percentage point from the prior week, the Energy Department said.

Gasoline stockpiles dropped 1.14 million barrels to 214.6 million last week. The decline left inventories 0.4 percent lower than the five-year average for the week, the department said. A 650,000-barrel drop was forecast, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

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