Larger than expected drop in gasoline inventory triggers oil prices hike

22-Mar-07

U.S. gasoline stocks declined by 3.4 million barrels to 210.5 million barrels in the week ended March 16. This is a larger-than-expected drop in gasoline stockpiles, and has caused oil prices to rise above US$60 a barrel in Asian trading on Thursday. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to US$60.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore. Interestingly, crude inventory rose by 4 million barrels to 329.3 million barrels, more than expected, which was ignored by the markets that seem to be focused more on the gasoline inventory drawdown.