Oil Rises As Crude Supplies Drop

Oil rose as the U.S. Energy Department reported that crude supplies dropped and refineries operated at the highest rate in almost five years. Futures climbed as much as 2.2 percent as inventories fell 4.7 million barrels to 378.2 million last week, more than three times the decline forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Refineries operated at 92.7 percent of capacity, the highest rate since July 2007. Stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuel increased more than projected.

Gasoline stockpiles rose 2.75 million barrels to 207.7 million, more than five times the gain of 500,000 barrels projected in the Bloomberg survey.

Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 3.11 million barrels to 120.9 million. A 625,000-barrel increase was projected.

Futures also rose as more cars were sold in China. Passenger-vehicle sales exceeded analysts’ estimates for a fourth consecutive month after automakers increased shipments ahead of scheduled shutdowns for the summer. China is the world’s second-biggest crude-consuming country after the U.S.

Wholesale deliveries of passenger vehicles rose 16 percent to 1.28 million units last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement today. That compares with the 1.27 million-unit average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Oil in New York has technical support along the middle Bollinger Band on the daily chart, around $83.40 a barrel today.

The August futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) on the NYMEX rose $ 2.16, and is now $ 86.07 a barrel.

August futures price for North Sea petroleum mix of mark Brent rose 2.19% to $ 100.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange.