Oil Gained On American Vacationers

Crude oil prices inched up Friday just before the start of American summer driving season.

Light sweet crude oil futures for July delivery rose 84 cents to finish at $51.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, the July Brent crude-oil futures contract climbed 54 cents to settle at $50.70 a barrel at International Petroleum Exchange.

Friday was the weekend of the US Memorial Day holiday, which kicked off the US summer driving season. During the summer driving season, which lasted from late May through early September, gasoline demand would peak as Americans travel a lot by motor vehicles.

Traders began to be cautious about the drop in US crude inventories last week despite the current stocks were 32.4 million barrels higher than year-ago levels.