Oil Tops $73 on Supply, Gulf Storm Fears

Oil prices topped $73 a barrel Wednesday on a big drop in U.S. gasoline supplies and fears tropical storms could hurt natural gas and oil output.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 95 cents, or 1.31 percent, to close at $73.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.S. crude oil supplies fell 5.2 million barrels to 335.2 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks fell 1.1 million barrels to 201.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks — which include diesel fuel — rose 200,000 barrels to 127.7 million barrels, the department said.

Refineries operated at 91.8 percent of capacity.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Dean was gaining strength near the West Indies and Tropical Storm Erin was intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm watches have been issued for the coasts of Texas and Mexico.

September natural gas fell 7.6 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close at $6.864 per 1,000 cubic feet. The contract hit an intraday high of $7.192.

Heating oil gained 4.44 cents, or 2.24 percent, at $2.0269 a gallon.

Reformulated-gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending advanced 3.5 cents, or 1.77 percent, to $2.0088 a gallon.

AAA said the average U.S. retail regular unleaded gasoline price was $2.762 a gallon, down 0.5 cents from Tuesday’s $2.767 a gallon.