| CATEGORY: COMMODITIES |
Commodities: Oil settles above $133 |
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Thu 22 May 2008
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - Oil prices settled above $133 a barrel on Wednesday after weekly government stockpile data showed crude and gasoline stocks fell.
Most analysts had expected a rise in weekly stockpiles.
Oil prices have been driven higher recently by concern about tighter supplies and amid renewed weakness in the dollar.
US light crude for July delivery settled up $4.19 at $133.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract expired on Tuesday.
The US Energy Information Administration said crude stocks dropped by 5.4m barrels last week while most analysts had pencilled in a gain of around 900,000 barrels.
Disruptive weather along the Gulf Coast was partly blamed for the surprise drop in crude.
Gasoline supplies declined by 800,000 barrels despite analyst predictions of a rise of 500,000 barrels.
Meanwhile distillates, used to make diesel and heating oil, rose by 700,000 barrels, falling short of expectations of a rise of 1.45m barrels.
Gold prices tracked the rise in oil prices and the weakening dollar. Gold for June delivery added $8.40 to settle $928.60.
Silver for July rose 33 cents to $18.05.
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