Oil Bounces Back Over $80 Following Inventory Report
Oil closed at over $80 a barrel for the first time in more than a week, following a Department of Energy report showing that fuel inventories fell last week, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures rose 80 cents to close the New York Mercantile Exchange trading day at $80.40 a barrel, the first closing-day price over $80 since Oct. 23.
Futures touched $81.06, the highest intraday price since Oct. 26, and oil has risen 80% this year, Bloomberg reported.
DOE said Wednesday that oil inventories fell 3.9 million barrels last week, a bigger drop than the 1.5 million decline forecast by analysts, Bloomberg said.
Gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles also fell for the week ended Saturday, with gas dropping 300,000 barrels and distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, declining by 400,000 barrels, DOE said in its weekly report.
