NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices surged nearly two dollars on Wednesday after a U.S. government report rekindled fears that resilient demand from summer drivers and a spate of refinery outages could trigger a gasoline supply crunch.
The gains came against the backdrop of rising tensions in the energy-rich Middle East after the United States closed its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia this week due to the threat of attacks by militants.
U.S. light sweet crude futures soared $1.93 to hit $65.00 a barrel, the highest on record, before settling at $64.90. London Brent jumped $2.08 to new peak of $64.06 a barrel, before settling at $63.99.
A U.S. government report issued on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles in the world's biggest energy consumer rose last week by 2.8 million barrels, due to hefty imports and slower refining activity.
But the report from the Energy Information Administration also showed a 2.1 million-barrel decline in gasoline stockpiles due to strong demand from summer drivers and slower domestic production -- bringing inventories below last year's level by 7.9 million barrels, or 3.7 percent.
Full report:
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.
aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=
2005-08-10T194004Z_01_N10318411_RTRIDST_0_
BUSINESS-MARKETS-OIL-COL.XML
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