time peak of US$70.85 a barrel hit Aug. 30, but is still almost 50 percent higher than a year ago. Gasoline rose by nearly a cent to US$2.0430 a gallon (3.8 liters). Heating oil moved up by nearly two cents to US$1.9390 a gallon, while natural gas rose nearly 6 cents to US$11.355 per 1,000 cubic feet. Vienna's PVM Oil Associates forecast continuing demand for heating oil _ in part as a substitute for natural gas caused by Katrina's destruction. «A high portion of natural gas production has not fully returned to normal levels, leading prices for natural gas relatively high,» said PVM's Energy Market Report, adding that _ comparatively _ «fuel-oil rich (crude) grades supplies by OPEC countries are rather cheap at the moment.» The U.S. Energy Department said Thursday that crude oil inventories fell 6.4 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 2. At 315 million barrels, crude inventories are still 13 percent above year-ago levels. --SP 1528 Local Time 1228 GMT
