Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell for a fifth day on expectations surging fuel imports will help compensate for reduced production caused by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gasoline extended yesterday's 5.4 percent slump after the U.S. Energy Department said imports surged 18 percent to 1.4 million barrels a day last week, the highest ever. Total fuel consumption in the four weeks ended Sept. 30 was 2.9 percent lower than a year earlier. Gulf oil output rose to 13 percent of pre-storm levels, the Minerals Management Service said.

``The demand numbers suggest people may be getting a little bit scared off by high prices,'' said David Thurtell, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``Gulf production is coming back slowly.''

Crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 54 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $62.25 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $62.30 at 8:10 a.m. in Singapore, 20 percent higher than a year ago.

November Gasoline fell 3.06 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.8772 a gallon in after-hours trading, taking its six-day decline to 14 percent.

The November oil contract fell $1.11, or 1.7 percent, yesterday to $62.79 a barrel, the lowest close for the contract nearest expiry since Aug. 5. Prices have declined 12 percent since touching a record of $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30.

Yesterday's slide in prices accelerated after the Minerals Management Service reported that Gulf oil companies restored another 50,000 barrels of daily production. Output shut in by hurricanes Katrina and Rita totaled 1.3 million barrels a day yesterday, or 87 percent of pre-hurricane levels.

Marathon Losses

Marathon Oil Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, said about 47 percent of its 60,000 barrel-a-day capacity in the Gulf remains idle. Repair costs won't be ``significant'' the company said in a statement.

Third-quarter oil and gas output was the equivalent of 318,000 barrels a day, 7 percent less than previously forecast, because of the hurricanes, Marathon said in a preliminary report.

U.S. gasoline supplies fell 4.4 million barrels to 195.5 million barrels, the department said. A decline of 3 million barrels was expected, according to the median of responses in a Bloomberg survey. Stockpiles are 3.4 percent below the five-year average for the week, the department said.

Distillate fuel inventories fell 5.5 million barrels to 128 million, more than twice the decline forecast by analysts. It was the biggest draw from supplies since April 2004.

``The downturn in stocks is quite troubling but is offset by high imports, especially of gasoline, and demand that's lackluster to say the least,'' said John Kilduff, vice president of risk management at Fimat USA in New York. ``The demand issue is now the focus.''

Gasoline Demand

Daily U.S. gasoline demand, as measured by deliveries from refineries, was little changed last week at an average 8.84 million barrels a day, according to the department's report. Deliveries, which peaked at 9.7 million barrels in July, plunged to a 19-month low after Katrina struck the Gulf coast Aug. 29, shutting refineries and fuel pipelines.

``You can't read too much into the stocks numbers at the moment,'' said Commonwealth's Thurtell. ``The data's just too screwed up with the imports and the problems with the terminals.''

U.S. refineries operated at 69.8 percent of capacity last week, down 16.9 percentage points from the week before, according to the Energy Department report. It was the lowest operating rate in at least 16 years, as plants in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi remained shut by storm damage.

Idled Refineries

Exxon Mobil Corp. said electrical power has been restored at its Beaumont, Texas, plant, the sixth-largest U.S. refinery, almost two weeks after Rita forced plants in the region to shut. Limited electricity service was restored Oct. 4 to seven refineries near the Texas-Louisiana border, including the Exxon Mobil plant, utility Entergy Gulf States Inc. said yesterday.

Royal Dutch Shell Group Plc said it expects to re-start the 275,000 barrel-a-day Motiva refinery at Port Arthur this month, after power was restored. Output from the Deer Park refinery is also increasing, Shell said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg.

The seven idled refineries in Port Arthur, Beaumont and Lake Charles have combined oil-processing capacity of almost 1.81 million barrels a day. Combined with shutdowns at BP Plc's Texas City refinery close to Houston and four others shut by Katrina, about 3.16 million barrels a day of refining capacity, or almost 19 percent of the U.S. total, is idle.

Heating oil for November delivery fell 3.49 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $2.0148 a gallon, the lowest close since Sept. 23. It was at $1.9940 in after-hours trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington, New Zealand at gavinevans@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 5, 2005 21:08 EDT