New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, rose 59 cents Thursday to 54.40 dollars a barrel in electronic dealing. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in May gained 36 cents to 53.40 dollars a barrel. At least 14 people were killed and more than 70 were injured in a huge explosion that rocked BP's sprawling coastal plant in Texas City, 55 kilometres (35 miles) south of Houston, Texas, the energy giant said. The site, consisting of 30 refinery units and large storage tanks, produces 30 percent of BP's North American oil and three percent of the entire US supply. The refinery also produces vast quantities of gasoline. Prices rose despite a sharp drop in crude stockpiles from the US Department of Energy, revealed the day before. "The reason why prices have recovered so strongly is due to the big fire at the (BP) refinery," said Dave Ernsberger, a director in Singapore at energy information provider Platts. "When you have such a big refinery, one that produces 450,000 barrels a day, experiencing an explosion, it makes people very frightened," he added. London-based energy group BP said terrorism was not suspected, but it was still working to pin down the precise cause of the explosion. The massive explosion triggered a fresh rise in after-hours trade in New York after a quiet start. Oil prices dropped in New York Wednesday, falling 2.22 dollars to close at a two-week low of 53.81 dollars a barrel, after the DoE said crude stockpiles had risen sharply over the past week. The sharp drop came amid a cooling of the speculative fever on crude oil that pushed prices up to a record of 57.60 dollars a barrel in New York last Thursday. US crude oil inventories in the week to March 18 were up 4.1 million barrels to 309.3 million, the DoE said. The private American Petroleum Institute said its survey showed a leap of 8.77 million barrels to 314.68 million. Gasoline supplies were lower however, both surveys showed. The DoE's report indicated a fall of 4.1 million barrels to 217.3 million, while the API showed a decline of 4.71 million barrels to 214.33 million. PIN/AFP