Wednesday, April 29, 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices ticked higher today despite expectations that a government report will show U.S. inventories of petroleum continue to grow.
Benchmark crude for June delivery rose up 91 cents to $50.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices rose 96 cents to $50.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Storage houses have been swelling with the biggest crude surplus since 1990, and experts say inventories likely grew even more last week.
Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., expect a build of 1.8 million barrels of crude and 900,000 barrels of gasoline.
The growing stocks have helped keep pump prices relatively flat, a welcome sign a month before Memorial Day, the traditional start of America’s summer driving season.
Last year, gas prices were surging each week by about 7 cents a gallon, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.