NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Crude oil supplies climbed for an eighth straight week, the government reported Wednesday, sending oil prices lower as the news eased traders' worries about dwindling supplies.

U.S. light crude for May delivery fell 19 cents to settle at $55.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, though the May contract ended off its lowest levels of the day. London Brent crude for May eased 17 cents to $55.27.

The Energy Information Administration said in the week ended April 1, crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week, higher than the 2.2 million barrels forecast by Reuters.

But total motor gasoline inventories dropped by 2.1 million barrels last week, much more than the decline of 1.3 million barrels forecast by Reuters.

Distillate fuels, used for heating, posted a surprising gain. The inventory rose 700,000 barrels, the report said, compared with a forecast for a 1 million barrel loss.

"Clearly, there does not appear to be a problem getting crude," Bill O'Grady, an analyst at A.G. Edwards, told Reuters. "This report was neutral except distillate, which was bearish, as refiners expected a draw."

The EIA said the current gas supply is above the average range for this time of year, with gasoline production up substantially last week, averaging over 8.6 million barrels per day.

Gasoline futures lost 1.4 cents to $1.6704 a gallon in New York.

While gas supplies currently exceed the average range, the upcoming summer driving season has stirred shortage fears as U.S. consumer demand shows little sign of easing.

Prices at the pump hit a new high Wednesday, with the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded hitting $2.228, according to AAA, the largest U.S. motorist organization.

According to a weekly survey of service stations by the Energy Information Administration, the national pump price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 6.4 cents during the past week and is up 44 cents from a year ago.

Rising crude inventories may help keep oil prices in check, with the EIA reporting that at 317.1 million barrels crude inventories are near the upper end of the average range for this time of year.

Last week saw an unexpectedly large increase in crude inventories to their highest level in nearly three years, and over the last eight weeks they have increased a total of 22.8 million barrels, according to the administration.

Supply fears have been a contributing factor to the recent run up in crude, with prices striking an all-time trading high Monday at $58.28.

The spike prompted OPEC oil ministers to discuss a possible output rise of 500,000 bpd to cool prices.

But Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday that market forces could eventually lead to a big enough increase in crude-oil inventories to cool the recent oil-price "frenzy."

"If sustained, these market technicals could encourage enough of an inventory buffer to dampen the current price frenzy," Greenspan told the conference.

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