Oil Climbs Despite Inventory Gains
Crude oil rose to near $66 a barrel Wednesday despite a Department of Energy report that showed fuel inventories rose last week, Bloomberg reported.
The price rise was due to some that U.S. oil refineries will be able to produce enough gasoline to keep up with increasing consumption, Bloomberg reported.
Oil futures rose 26 cents to close at $65.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said.
Gasoline inventories jumped 1.4 million barrels for the week ended Friday, while oil inventories rose almost 2 million barrels, DOE said in its weekly report released Wednesday.
Distillate inventories, which include diesel, gained 500,000 barrels.
Oil refineries operated at 91.1% of capacity last week, up 1.8% from a week earlier, but below the 93% or better rate normal for this time of year, Bloomberg reported.
Guy Caruso, head of DOE’s Energy Information Administration, told CNBC Wednesday that better refinery utilization and boosting imports could help lower prices this summer.
Gasoline wholesale prices fell 9 cents Tuesday, CNBC said.
