Crude oil rose for a second day in New York after strong economic data in the euro zone fueled speculation that fuel demand in Europe will increase. Oil climbed as much as 1.7 percent, erasing an earlier decline and exceeding $100 a barrel. Germany’s gross domestic product jumped 1.5 percent in the first quarter, the Federal Statistics Office said today. The Bank of Korea unexpectedly kept interest rates unchanged after two increases this year. “Eurozone GDP figures helped the gains and the Bank of Korea is holding rates, diminishing some concerns about monetary tightening in Asia,” said Michael Hewson, London-based market analyst at CMC Markets. Crude for June delivery gained as much as $1.73 to $100.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $100.34 at 9:20 London time. It earlier fell as much as 1.1 percent to $97.87 a barrel. Prices are up 3 percent this week and 34 percent in the past year. Brent oil for June settlement rose $1.34, or 1.3 percent, to $114.31 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices are up 4.8 percent this week. The oil market is “structurally bullish,” Jeffrey Currie, the London-based head of commodity research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview. “Long-term and medium-term we’re still structurally bullish,” he said today in London. Volatility in oil prices will begin to stabilize next month and prices are likely to be higher in 12 months, he said. European Economic Growth Germany and France powered economic growth in the euro area in the first quarter as booming exports fueled domestic spending in the bloc’s core, offsetting turmoil sparked by sovereign debt woes in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. German GDP jumped 1.5 percent from the fourth quarter and the French GDP rose 1 percent, exceeding economists’ median forecasts of 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. Austria’s economy grew 1 percent and the Netherlands’ expanded 0.9 percent. First-quarter GDP figures for the 17- nation euro region are due from the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg at 11 a.m. Rising floodwaters on the Mississippi River may affect 10 percent of Louisiana’s onshore crude oil production. Opening the state’s Morganza spillway to alleviate the flood may affect 2,264 wells that produce 19,278 barrels of crude oil a day, said Matt Ross, communications director for the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. About 150 companies are preparing for an onslaught of water should the spillway be opened, he said. The work includes removing lease equipment and adding markers to wells. Gasoline Rises Gasoline for June delivery rose 0.6 percent to $3.0811 a gallon in New York today. Futures have advanced 40 percent in the past year. Brent, the European benchmark, traded at a premium of $14.44 a barrel to U.S. futures. The difference between front- month contracts in London and New York surged to a record $19.54 on Feb. 21. It averaged 76 cents last year. Crude may decline next week as U.S. inventories increase and fuel consumption drops, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Nineteen of 38 analysts, or 50 percent, forecast oil will fall through May 20. Ten respondents, or 26 percent, predicted prices will advance and nine projected little change. Last week, 50 percent of respondents said futures would decline. To contact the reporters on this story: Sherry Su in London at lsu23@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

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