By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Mar. 22�Energy futures prices rose in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.
The May contract for light, sweet crude advanced 68� to finish at $26.80/bbl, while the June contract stood at $26.86, up 62�.
Refined petroleum products also closed higher, with April home heating oil rising by 3.12� to settle at 71.61�/gal, while unleaded gasoline for the same month gained 4.46� to rest at 90.23�/gal.
However, NYMEX natural gas for April delivery slumped by 24.6� to end at $5.04/Mcf.
The day's trading session was driven by inventory reports released by the American Petroleum Institute and the US Department of Energy.
In its weekly stocks report, issued after the end of Tuesday's NYMEX session, the API estimated an unexpected draw in product stocks during the previous week.
Distillate inventories, which include home heating oil, were lower by 3.11 million bbl at 110.81 million bbl, while unleaded gasoline stocks dropped by 1.69 million bbl to 198.05 million bbl.
The large decline in product stocks overshadowed the increase in crude inventories, which saw an expansion of 7.59 million bbl during the same period.
However, analysts were skeptical about the continuation of the price rally and said that the upward movement was too much of an overreaction to a bullish inventory report.
In after-hours electronic access trading in New York, light, sweet crude was fetching $26.80/bbl for the May position and $26.85 for the June contract.
Meanwhile, in London Wednesday, North Sea Brent crude oil futures settled slightly higher on the International Petroleum Exchange, just below the next resistance level of $25/bbl.
Brokers said the market needed to correct higher�the fall below $25/bbl was seen by some players as overdone�and the latest US oil stocks' data contained nothing to encourage further aggressive selling.
On Wednesday, IPE May Brent futures settled at $24.86/bbl, up by 24� from the previous close. The day's high was $25.20 and the low $24.50.
April natural gas prices remained essentially unchanged on the IPE at $3.30/Mcf.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries stood at $22.76/bbl Wednesday, compared with $22.68 the previous day.
