April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to a record after the U.S. Energy Department reported an unexpected decline in the country's crude and gasoline inventories and the dollar traded at an all- time low against the euro, boosting investment in commodities.

Oil climbed to $115.54 a barrel in New York, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Crude supplies dropped 2.36 million barrels to 313.7 million in the week ended April 11, the department said yesterday. Gasoline stockpiles fell for a fifth week and refineries ran at the lowest rate since October 2005.

``People were expecting an increase in crude stocks and gasoline is going down,'' said Ehsan Ul-Haq, head of research at JBC Energy in Vienna. ``If gasoline stocks start dropping before the summer driving season it could mean trouble for the U.S.''

Crude oil for May delivery gained as much as 61 cents in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $115.26 a barrel at 10:47 a.m. London time. Yesterday, futures gained $1.14, or 1 percent, to settle at $114.93 a barrel, a record close. Crude has risen to records for the past three days.

Brent crude for June settlement advanced as much as 72 cents to a record $113.38 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $113.11 at 10:48 a.m. local time. The contract yesterday climbed $1.08, or 1 percent, to close at a high of $112.66 a barrel.

Dollar Slumps

The dollar fell to a record $1.5983 against the euro today. It traded at $1.5973 per euro at 10:38 a.m. in London, before a Federal Reserve report that may show shrinking manufacturing in parts of the U.S. The dollar's decline attracts investment to the oil market because it makes crude cheaper for investors in other currencies.

``The euro finally managed to break the $1.59 resistance and gave the first supportive boost for WTI to test $115 a barrel,'' said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. West Texas Intermediate crude is traded in New York.

Gasoline inventories fell 5.52 million barrels last week to 215.8 million barrels, the Energy Department report showed. That's the biggest drop since August. A 1.8 million-barrel decline was forecast, according to the median of responses by 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Supplies reached a peak of 235 million barrels on March 7, their highest since 1994.

U.S. refineries operated at 81.4 percent of capacity, the lowest since October 2005 when output was crimped by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Lower margins, or the profit from turning a barrel of oil into fuels, reduced the incentive for refiners to process crude into products, including gasoline and diesel.

``Refiners are trying to get rid of the overhang in gasoline stocks before they can start to run up utilization rates,'' said Jakob of Petromatrix. ``They are coming from historic high stock levels.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 17, 2008 06:08 EDT