LONDON, April 19: World oil prices pushed upwards on Tuesday on rumoured gasoline production problems at several US oil refineries, ahead of the driving season in the United States, dealers said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, gained $1.33 to $51.70 per barrel in early deals, ahead of May-dated contract expiry on Wednesday.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in June surged by $1.58 to $52.36 per barrel, trading above US futures due to the earlier May contract expiry.

But prices remained well below their historic records of April 4, of $58.28 in New York and $57.65 in London, set on fears about possible supply shortages.

Oil prices pushed higher on Tuesday by rumours of problems at the Coffeyville Kansas refinery, which produces 90,000 barrels per day, said Sucden analyst Sam Tilley.

Prices are also higher on speculation that another refinery in California is also having problems, he added.

Additionally, Valero Energy said it had shut down the coker processing unit at its St Charles refinery in Louisiana on Saturday for 10 to 14 days to conduct unscheduled maintenance.

That resulted in a production loss of 8,000 bpd of gasoline and 25,000 bpd of distillate fuels.

Bache Financial broker Tony Macheheck said that “any refinery problems in the US will have a big impact on prices” as there are still some concerns over a gasoline supply squeeze during the US high demand summer driving season.

Dealers were meanwhile preparing for Wednesday’s weekly snapshot of US crude inventories, analysts said.—AFP