Oil prices rose above $83 a barrel Wednesday as the dollar weakened and oil traders shrugged off weak job news and a bigger-than-expected build in crude inventories, The Associated Press reports.
Benchmark crude for May delivery climbed 84 cents to $83.21 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, prices rose as high as $83.70 a gallon.
“The bottom line is this is just a market that’s advancing in a relatively thin pre-holiday atmosphere,” said oil analyst Jim Ritterbusch. “The market is zeroing in on the fact that the dollar is weak.”
Crude prices trimmed some gains after the Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels last week. Analysts expected a build of 2.65 million barrels.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said there should be more oil and gas drilling off the East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico and in waters off Alaska. The plan modifies a ban in place for more than 20 years that limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.
Flynn called the news “a very positive long-term story for the oil markets,” but said it’s too far into the future to move oil markets today.
A number of energy companies could eventually be involved in the new offshore areas, but investors did not rush to buy shares. Major oil companies like BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil were little changed in midday trading.
At the pump, retail gasoline prices edged up. The national average rose less than a penny to $2.798 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded is 9.3 cents more than it was a month ago and 75 cents above the price a year ago.
In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 1.76 cents to $2.1423 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.88 cent to $2.2706 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 9.1 cents to $4.064 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose 81 cents to $82.09 on the ICE futures exchange.
