Oil Price Rises Following Lower Inventory Report

rude oil rose to a near-record $75 a barrel Wednesday before receding to close at $74.95 following a Department of Energy report showed that oil and gasoline inventories fell last week, Bloomberg reported.

DOE reported that U.S. oil supplies fell 6 million barrels last week and gasoline fell 400,000 barrels. Analysts had forecast a 1.3-million barrel decline.

Gasoline stockpiles dropped by 426,000 barrels; analysts had expected a 250,000 decline, Bloomberg said.

Oil closed on the New York Mercantile Exchange last Wednesday at a record $75.19 a barrel. It fell in three of four sessions following, rising Tuesday to close at $74.16.