Oil prices rose nearly a dollar on Wednesday on the United States' report on unexpected drop...
Oil prices rose nearly a dollar on Wednesday on the United States' report on unexpected drop in crude and gasoline inventories and OPEC forecast the rise in world oil demand in winter.
The US government released data that showed gasoline demand over the past four weeks was up slightly compared with a year ago, reversing a trend whereby high prices appeared to be damping motorfuel consumption.
Light sweet crude for December delivery rose 90 cents to settle at $57.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Meanwhile, London Brent was up 82 cents to $56.00 a barrel on the IPE. Although sharply below the Aug. 30 record of 70.85 dollars, US oil prices are up by a third since the start of the year.
The US Energy Department said in its weekly report that average daily demand for gasoline in the US over the past four weeks was 9.106 million barrels per day, up marginally from a year ago. Average daily demand for distillate, which includes diesel, was also up slightly from a year ago during the same period.
