AND LOWER...:

Oil Falls $3, Winter Fuel Inventories Up (Richard Mably, 12/01/04, Reuters)

World oil prices slid $3 a barrel on Wednesday, shedding nearly 7 percent, as a larger-than-expected build in U.S. heating stocks soothed worries about a winter fuel deficit.

U.S. crude (CLc1: Quote, Profile, Research) by 1900 GMT was down $3.23 a barrel at $45.85 a barrel, off 6.6 percent. London Brent crude, benchmark for European imports, fell $3.06 to $42.45 a barrel, off 6.7 percent.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel, rose 2.3 million barrels in the week to Nov. 26 to 117.9 million barrels.

The consensus projection from a Reuters survey was for a 1.4-million-barrel build.