HOUSTON, April 10 -- U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.8 million barrels per day (b/d) during the week ending April 5, 115,000 b/d less than the previous week's average, according to a weekly report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

Refineries operated at 88.3 percent of their operable capacity last week, said the Weekly Petroleum Data report.

During the same period, gasoline production went down while distillate fuel production went up, averaging 9.4 million b/d and 4.6 million b/d respectively.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, surged by 5.8 million barrels from the previous week to 457.3 million barrels, about 2.0 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Total motor gasoline inventories rose by 0.7 million barrels from the previous week and were about 3.0 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Both finished gasoline and blending components inventories increased last week.

Distillate fuel inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels last week, and were about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 0.1 million barrels from the previous week, and were 9 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.

Total commercial petroleum inventories soared by 12.4 million barrels last week.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.0 million b/d, down by 0.4 percent from the same period last year.

Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.8 million b/d, down by 2.7 percent from the same period last year.

Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.6 million b/d over the past four weeks, down by 8.9 percent from the same period last year.

Jet fuel product supplied was up 3.5 percent compared with the same four-week period last year.

  - Xinhua