Crude-oil futures rose Tuesday, briefly topping $60 a barrel as analysts expected a drop in last week's U.S. crude inventories. Gains in crude were limited by disappointing housing data and falling U.S. stocks. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release last week's petroleum data Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by energy information provider Platts expect a 1.5-million-barrel drop in U.S. crude inventories. Crude for June delivery was last up 27 cents, or 0.5%, at $59.30 a barrel in North American electronic trading. It topped $60 overnight to reach $60.48, the highest level for a front-month contract since the middle of November. Crude reduced its gains after data showed U.S. April housing starts fell to a new low. New construction of U.S. houses plunged 12.8% in April to a seasonally-adjusted 458,000 annualized units, weaker than the 519,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. It is the lowest level since the series began in 1959. See full story. Separately, a Sunday night explosion that caused a fire was put out Monday night at Sunoco's Marcus Hook, Pa., oil refinery, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The refinery was running at 85% capacity. The company ramped up production at its two other refineries to cover the production loss. Inventories outlook The EIA reported last week that U.S. crude inventories fell in the week ended May 8 for the first week in 10, as the country imported less oil. Inventories had been hovering around the highest level in 19 years before the drop. The EIA is expected to report a rebound in imports when it releases a new report on Wednesday, "but the bounce will not likely be large enough to prevent another drop in stocks," said Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at Platts. Refinery utilization is expected to stand at 83.7%, up from last week's 80.4%. Analysts also expect a decline in gasoline stocks of 1.7 million barrels and a build of 1.3 million barrels in stockpiles of distillates. Also in energy trading, June-dated reformulated gasoline fell 0.3% to $1.7532 a gallon, and June heating oil slid 0.2% to $1.4727 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery fell 1.9% to $4.063 per million British thermal units.

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