Crude oil prices climbed to nearly $51 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange in spite of U.S. inventories on the high end of historic ranges.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday stockpiles increased 1.7 million barrels in the week ending April 3. Stocks of distillate fuels, which includes heating oil, fell 3.4 million barrels but remained high compared to the historic average for the commodity.
On Thursday, crude oil prices gained $1.43 to $50.81 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 0.0227 cents to $1.4209 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.0338 cents to $1.4734 per gallon. Natural gas prices gained 0.02 cents to $3.65 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.051 Thursday, up from Wednesday's $2.047 a gallon, AAA said.
