Crude Oil Closes Thursday at Almost $60 a Barrel

July 28, 2005 2:00 AM, EDT

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rude oil prices gained for the fourth session in five Thursday, climbing 83 cents to close at $59.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

The rise was based in part on concerns that refiners may struggle to meet rising fuel demand being spurred by economic growth, Bloomberg said.

Use of distillate fuels, which include diesel, has averaged 4 million barrels a day during the past four weeks, 3.5% higher than a year ago, according to Department of Energy statistics. Gasoline demand has averaged 9.5 million barrels, a 2.4% increase.

Oil refineries are operating at 93.5% capacity, up 0.7% from a week earlier, a DOE report showed.