Oil prices jumped Wednesday after the government said U.S. inventories of crude oil, gasoline, and distillate fuels were lower than expected last week. Supplies of gasoline and distillates—which include heating oil, diesel, and jet fuel—fell much more than expected, while crude inventories were unchanged, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly petroleum report. Analysts had expected crude inventories to rise by 1.7 million barrels. Light sweet crude for May delivery jumped over $4 to above $105 a barrel in late-morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. inventory report added to concerns that supplies of gasoline are falling at a time when they should be rising ahead of peak summer driving. Gasoline supplies fell by 3.3 million barrels last week, more than four times the decline expected by analysts. Part of the decline was because refinery activity fell by 1.6 percentage points. Inventories of distillates fell by 2.2 million barrels, about 600,000 more than expected. Investors ignored data showing that gasoline demand fell 1.3 percent last week. Demand is lower because retail gasoline prices are at record highs. Average prices rose 0.6 cent overnight to $3.26 a gallon (3.8 liters), according to the Oil Price Information Service and travel group AAA. Prices have slid recently from a record $3.285 a gallon reached last week.
