Oil Prices Surpass $53 a Barrel

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Crude oil prices climbed to a four-month high above $53 a barrel Wednesday, even after a U.S. government report showed domestic supplies of oil and gasoline are rising.


Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose $1.37 to settle at $53.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest closing price since crude futures peaked at $55.17 per barrel on Oct. 26.


Brent crude futures fell 9 cents to $50.02 on London’s International Petroleum Exchange.


The U.S. Energy Department said in its weekly supply report that commercial inventories of crude oil rose by 2.4 million barrels to 299.4 million barrels, or 9 percent above year ago levels. The supply of gasoline grew by 1 million barrels to 224.5 million barrels, or 10 percent above last year’s level. The supply of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, shrank by 1.8 million barrels to 110 million barrels, or 3 percent below year ago levels.


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