June 29, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 2, 1427

LONDON, June 28: World crude prices advanced on Wednesday as traders seized on news that US crude oil and motor fuel inventories dropped sharply over the past week.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, increased by 18 cents to $72.10 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for August delivery gained 40 cents to $71.38 per barrel in electronic deals.Reserves of gasoline or petrol fell by one million barrels to 212.4 million over the week ended June 23, the Department of Energy (DoE) said on Wednesday in its weekly market update.

That was far worse than analysts’ consensus forecasts for a rise of 450,000 barrels.

The DoE added that crude oil reserves fell by 3.4 million barrels to 343.7 million over the week.

“The numbers were extremely bullish,” said Societe Generale analyst Deborah White.

“The crude stock draw was pretty much triple expectations.

“The forecasts were very mixed for gasoline, but most of us were still expecting builds.” Gasoline stocks are taking a pounding amid the ongoing peak-demand driving season, during which many Americans fill up their tanks and hit the roads for their summer holidays.

Demand for gasoline rose 1.2pc from the prior week, to 9.54 million barrels per day, matching its record high set for the first time in August 2005.

“It is a normal pattern for US demand to accelerate when there’s more and more driving in the school holidays, in the summer break,” added White.

Over the past four weeks, US gasoline demand has run 0.9pc higher than in the same period a year ago.

Reserves of distillates, used for heating oil and diesel, rose 1.8 million barrels to 126.3m, the DoE said, topping market expectations of a gain of 1.45 million.

The DoE also reported that US refineries operated at 93.8pc capacity in the past week, compared with 93.3pc in the previous week.

Crude futures have risen so far this week, supported by refinery disruption and strong energy demand in the United States and China, as well as jitters over the Iranian nuclear energy crisis.—AFP