Crude oil rose after the American Petroleum Institute said stockpiles of crude and gasoline fell last week in the U.S., the world’s largest energy consumer. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 1 million barrels, and gasoline declined by 2.9 million barrels, the industry-funded API said after floor trading closed yesterday. The U.S. Energy Department will release its report on supplies later today. “The API draws of crude and gasoline could be a driver,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, senior oil market analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. “There has to be a resolution to the large inventory overhang before the market can move durably higher. The current economic situation remains one of contraction.” Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as 1.1 percent to $54.44 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $54.18 as of 1:08 p.m. London time. Yesterday, the contract dropped 63 cents to settle at $53.84 a barrel. Oil is up 22 percent this year. Oil’s gains were capped as U.S. stock index futures retreated and the dollar advanced on speculation that government-run stress tests may show the country’s largest banks need to raise more money. A stronger U.S. currency dulls demand for dollar-priced commodities used to hedge against inflation. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June fell 0.9 percent to 895.40, and the dollar traded at $1.33 per euro as of 12:48 p.m. in London. Regulators said Bank of America Corp. requires about $34 billion in new capital, the most among the 19 biggest U.S. banks subjected to stress tests. The Federal Reserve publishes stress test results tomorrow. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. It may show that crude-oil inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels last week from 374.7 million in the previous week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Refiners are producing less fuel on weaker demand for gasoline and diesel. “We have to wait and see what the data shows tonight, and if that is consistent with the API numbers, it will be a bit more supportive for the oil price,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. 83% Capacity Gasoline stockpiles probably rose 650,000 barrels from 212.6 million the prior week, according to the survey. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably rose 1 million barrels from 144.1 million. U.S. refineries probably operated at 83 percent of capacity last week, up 0.3 percentage point from the previous week, according to the median of responses in the survey. That would be down from 85 percent in the same week a year earlier and 89 percent in 2007. API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey. Oil-supply totals from the API and Energy Department moved in the same direction 76 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Brent crude oil for June settlement increased as much as 1.2 percent to $54.74 on London’s ICE Futures exchange. It traded at $54.38 at 1:08 p.m. The contract declined 46 cents, or 0.8 percent, to end the session at $54.12 a barrel yesterday.

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