Crude oil futures rose slightly today amid market nervousness about the West's nuclear standoff with Iran and persistent supply disruptions in Nigeria.
The increase came ahead of the weekly release of US Energy Department data expected to show gasoline stocks rose but crude stocks fell.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 19 cents to $69.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract yesterday increased 12 cents to settle at $69.53 a barrel.
Today, gasoline futures rose 0.31 cent to $2.0292 a gallon, while heating oil was down marginally at $1.9503 a gallon. Natural gas prices gained 11.8 cents to $6.370 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Data to be released later today by the US Energy Information Administration were expected to show US gasoline stocks in the week ended May 12 rose for the third straight week, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of ten energy analysts.
They predicted gasoline stocks would rise by an average of 1.6 million barrels from the 205.1 million barrels reported last week.
The forecast comes as US refiners complete seasonal maintenance and rebuild inventory ahead of the peak demand summer driving season. After falling through much of March and April, commercial gasoline stocks rose by 4.5 million barrels in the prior two weeks as refinery utilization topped 90 percent of operating capacity for the first time since December.
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, are also expected to post another seasonal build, rising by an average of 900,000 barrels above the 114.7 million barrels reported last week. Estimates for crude stocks leaned toward a decline of 400,000 barrels, on average.
Oil prices have been rising on growing concerns about the approaching hurricane season. Last year's hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, and forced the shutdown of refineries and pipelines that deliver fuel to the U.S. East Coast and Midwest markets.
AP