Crude oil futures jumped over $55 per barrel Friday as brokers were concerned about
Crude oil futures jumped over $55 per barrel Friday as brokers were concerned about strong demand for gasoline and diesel.
Light, sweet oil futures for July delivery rose $1.40 to end at $55.03 per barrel, the highest close since April 22On the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London the July Brent oil futures climbed $1.77 to finish at $54.17 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.
The Nymex oil futures had gone up 6.1 percent this week and up 18 percent in two weeks. Oil futures were 40 percent higher than ayear ago.
US refineries were operating at 96.2 percent of capacity last week, the highest since September, but brokers feared that refinery malfunctions would make them unable to continue running at that rate.
