Oil jumps on bullish US gasoline draw

Manama: Oil prices surged as much as 4 per cent yesterday, with Brent back above $40 a barrel, after a big draw in US gasoline convinced the market that energy demand was improving despite US crude stockpiles at record highs.

Crude oil prices also rose on speculation that top producers might agree soon to an output freeze.

Brent futures were up $1.30, or 3.2 pc, at $40.95 a barrel. US crude futures rose $1.50, or 4 pc, to $38.

The US Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles rose 3.9 million barrels to nearly 522 m barrels, as predicted by analysts.

But gasoline inventories fell 4.5 m barrels, much more than the polled number of 1.4 m barrels.