The increase could relieve pressure on
Inventories remain well below levels a year ago, however, and persistent problems at the nation"s refineries and escalating violence in
Marking the first increase in 13 consecutive weeks, gasoline stocks rose an average of 400,000 barrels last week to 193.5 million barrels, slightly ahead of analyst expectations.
"Overall, the same problems that drove gas prices to record highs haven"t gone away," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $1.16 to $61.10 a barrel in afternoon electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). June Brent crude dropped $1.01 to $64.53 a barrel on
Gasoline futures slipped 1.45 cent to $2.1900 a gallon.
Meanwhile, the nationwide average price for regular unleaded was $3.03 per gallon Wednesday, up from $2.78 last month and $2.90 last year, according to AAA"s daily survey of self-serve stations.
Drivers could enjoy relief at the pump within weeks if crude prices continue to drop, though the upcoming switch to costlier summer gas blends will eat into any markdowns, Flynn said.
Unplanned outages and scheduled maintenance at refineries, sluggish imports and strong demand have plagued gasoline supplies. At least a dozen additional partial shutdowns have occurred in the
The inventories report also showed crude oil stocks increased by 5.6 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, to 341.2 million barrels for the week ending May 4.
Stocks of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.7 million barrels to 118.8 million barrels.
Earlier Wednesday, oil prices rose following the armed seizure of four American workers in
The attackers, carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, stormed a vessel carrying the workers in the southern Niger Delta minutes before midnight on Tuesday, two industry officials told The Associated Press.
The latest kidnappings — following dozens last week — came just hours after militants staged coordinated attacks on three pipelines in the wetlands region, knocking out tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil and keeping global supply fears alive.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 3.70 cents to $1.7929 a gallon, and natural gas prices rose 2.3 cents to $7.660 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Your Comment