By Paul Burkhardt July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell as a jump in fuel inventories indicated a slow recovery from the recession in the U.S., the world’s largest energy-consuming country. Gasoline supplies rose 813,000 barrels to 215.4 million last week, the sixth-straight gain, the Energy Department said yesterday. The increase left inventories 3 percent above the five-year average for the week. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, rose 1.22 million barrels to 160.5 million. “It will still take a while to work these inventory levels down,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, in Winchester, Massachusetts. Crude oil for September delivery dropped 73 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $64.67 a barrel at 9:14 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 45 percent this year. U.S. crude oil imports fell 346,000 barrels to 9.2 million barrels, according to the Energy Department. Japan’s oil imports declined 19 percent in June, according to a preliminary finance ministry trade report. The country’s refiners and power utilities cut output amid the recession, reducing demand in the world’s second-largest economy. U.S. crude stockpiles dropped 1.8 million barrels to 342.7 million, the Energy Department said. This was less than a median 2.1 million-barrel decrease forecast by 15 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in New York at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net.

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