Gasoline Adds to 33-Month High as Inventories Drop: Oil Products
Gasoline extended its 33-month high with a fifth consecutive increase, moving up with crude oil and heating oil after the U.S. Energy Department said stockpiles of the motor fuel declined and demand increased. Crude-oil supplies rose more than three times as much as analysts had expected.
Crude Oil
Crude oil for June delivery rose 55 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $112.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have increased 37 percent in the past year.
Inventories of crude oil advanced for the seventh time in eight weeks, growing 6.16 million barrels to 363.1 million, the Energy Department reported. Supplies were forecast to increase by 1.7 million barrels. The increase was the largest in almost nine months. Supplies are the highest since November.
Gasoline
Gasoline for May delivery increased 6.22 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $3.4194 a gallon on the Nymex, the highest settlement since July 14, 2008. Gasoline has increased 47 percent in a year.
Stockpiles declined for the 10th week in a row, dropping 2.51 million barrels to 205.6 million. Demand rose 0.9 percent to 9.15 million barrels a day. Days of supply declined for the 10th time in 11 weeks, dropping to 22.7 days from 23.1.
Heating Oil
Heating oil for May delivery gained 2.23 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $3.2334 a gallon. Heating oil has gained 45 percent in the past year.
Distillate inventories fell for the third straight week, dropping 1.2 percent to 146.5 million barrels. Days of supply declined to 38.3 from the previous 39.
Ethanol
Denatured ethanol for May delivery dipped 1 cent, or 0.4 percent, to $2.635 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Ethanol has increased 68 percent in the past year.
Refineries and Transport
BP Plc has delayed the restart of its 475,000-barrel-a-day Texas City, Texas, refinery after an external power failure forced its chemical plant to shut down, said a person with knowledge of the situation.
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO)’s Texas City refinery was back to normal operations today after restarting units following a power outage, according to Shane Pochard, a company spokesman.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Stubbe in Houston at rstubbe1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets in New York at dstets@bloomberg.net
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