Oil Prices Rose on Lower Domestic Gasoline Inventories

Oil prices rose on lower domestic gasoline inventories

NEW YORK, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — Oil prices rebounded Thursday after the U.S. government data showed an unexpected drop in gasoline inventories.

The supply of gasoline declined by 1.2 million barrels last week to 202.9 million barrels, or six percent below year ago levels, the Department of Energy said. Gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 6.13 cents to settle at 1. 624 dollars per gallon.

Commercial inventories of crude oil, however, grew by 100,000 barrels last week to 322.6 million barrels, or 13 percent above year ago levels, which helped curb the oil’s rise.

U.S. crude for February delivery rose 50 cents to settle at 60. 32 dollars a barrel while Brent crude traded on the ICE Futures exchange increased by 43 cents to settle 58.07 dollars a barrel.

The price of Nymex crude is about 15 percent below its Aug. 30 high of 70.85 dollars. Oil prices remained above 60 dollars a barrel for months after Hurricane Katrina disrupted Gulf of Mexico oil and gas output and dipped below 60 dollars recently amid mild winter weather in the United States.

Heating oil futures rose by 2.04 cents to close at 1.7029 dollars per gallon on Nymex _ a reflection of declining U.S. inventories of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel. In its weekly petroleum supply report, the Department of Energy said distillate inventories declined by 900,000 barrels last week to 126.8 million barrels, or one percent above last year.

Weather forecasters said temperatures in most of the United States apart from the northwest will be higher than normal in the next six to 10 days.