Oil prices surge to new record over $104

NEW YORK – Oil prices surged to a new record over $104 a barrel Wednesday after the government reported a surprise drop in crude oil stockpiles and OPEC held production levels steady

Most analysts had expected the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration to report oil supplies rose last week for the eighth straight time. Instead, they fell by 3.1 million barrels.


…Gasoline demand is off about 1 percent over the last six weeks compared to the same period last year, according to EIA data. At the same time, gasoline supplies rose last week to a 15-year high, said Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., in New York.

“Clearly, refineries have enough crude oil to produce an abundance of gasoline,” Evans said.

Still, investors chose to focus on the drop in crude supplies, sending light, sweet crude for April delivery up $4.33 a barrel to $103.85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices earlier rose to $104.31, a new trading record, and appeared poised to move higher.

AP