Crude Oil Closes at Over $53 a Barrel

March 2, 2005 3:30 PM, EST

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ight sweet crude oil closed at $53.05 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday, the highest closing price since Oct. 26 when it was near a record, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil set an all-time record Oct. 22 when it closed at $56.17 a barrel.

Meanwhile gasoline futures on the Nymex surged almost 6% Wednesday, Bloomberg said, to reach $1.484, the highest close for the futures since they began trading in 1984.

Bloomberg cited a Department of Energy report issued Wednesday that showed U.S. gasoline consumption for the four weeks ended Feb. 25 was 1.5% higher than a year ago.

Gasoline futures are 30% higher than a year ago, Bloomberg said.

The crude oil increases came despite a DOE report Wednesday showing that inventories rose 2.4 million barrels, well above economists’ estimates of a 1 million barrel increase, Bloomberg said.

DOE said oil refineries used 89.3% of their capacity in the week ended Feb. 25, the lowest rate of usage since companies were performing repairs after Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf of Mexico in mid-September.

One analyst told Bloomberg that refineries are beginning to perform maintenance after making heating oil all winter. Diesel and heating oil are both distillate fuels.