Crude Rallied Again

Oil prices returned back to their recent level of $55 a barrel on Wednesday after the worries over winter US supplies.
NYMEX Light crude jumped $1.81, more than three per cent, to $55.10 a barrel, back near a record high of US$55.33 struck on Monday. The highest level during the trading was at $54.70.

London's IPE Brent crude futures rose $1.55 to $50.32 a barrel.

Prices surged after the US government reported that distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel fuel, fell 1.9 million barrels last week to 119.0 million barrels.
US distillate stocks have fallen for five straight weeks and are now nearly 10 per cent below last year, the Energy Information Administration said in a weekly report.

Distillate consumption is running four per cent above this time last year as solid US economic growth drives diesel demand. New York heating oil futures hit a record high at US$1.565 a gallon on Wednesday.
US fuel stocks normally grow at this time of year, but Hurricane Ivan in September battered crude production and oil shipments in the Gulf of Mexico and hampered refining operations on the Gulf Coast.