Oil extends to $68
Oil prices extended gains towards $68 a barrel, related Reuters. U.S. Light sweet crude oil futures climbed 48 cents or 0.7 percent to $67.55 a barrel, adding to Wednesday's 1.3 percent surge. The market touched a two-month high of $67.90 a barrel on Monday before succumbing to a brief round of profit taking.
Gasoline led gains with a 1.5 percent rise to $1.9759 a gallon after soaring 2.7 percent a day ago when the U.S. government reported a deep, 4.4 million-barrel drop in weekly stocks of the motor fuel, their fifth draw in a row.
Gasoline tanks are now about 1 million barrels above the upper end of the average range, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that stocks could fall sharply before the end of April if more refiners shut for work.
The low inventory level has compounded worries that changing specifications may also create shortages in some areas of the United States, whose gasoline consumption accounts for more than a tenth of the world's oil use.
Inventories of crude, which hit a seven-year high a month ago, rose 2.1 million barrels last week while distillate supplies fell 2.6 million barrels, maintaining a healthy surplus over last year, EIA data showed.
Oil prices were also buoyed by the resumption of investment fund buying in the commodities sector, which helped lift copper and zinc by 3 percent to record highs. Orange juice soared to its highest in 14 years.
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