Crude trades over $61 in New York

Crude oil prices were higher Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration released its latest inventories numbers, which showed that US stockpiles of crude oil and gasoline were lower last week.

In early afternoon trade in New York, July contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had added $1.28 to $61.38 per barrel, while at last report Brent crude had gained $1.23 to $60.15 per barrel.

Earlier in the day, WTI traded at its highest in six months, selling for a time at $62.14 per barrel.

The EIA reported that crude oil inventories dropped by 2.1 million barrels in the week ending 15 May to 368.5 million barrels, while gasoline stockpiles were down by 4.3 million barrels but distillates in storage added 600,000 barrels during the week.

Crude oil and gasoline inventories had been expected to decline, but both drops were much steeper than had been anticipated although crude oil stockpiles remain 48.1 million barrels over their level last year at this time.

Among precious metals, June gold added $10.80 to $937.50 per troy ounce in New York trade while July silver was up 16 cents to $14.28 per troy ounce.

Industrial metal copper, which is used in both construction and manufacturing, was up 4 cents to $2.11 per pound in New York.

Grains traded on the Chicago Board of Trade were higher as July corn was up a cent to $4.26 per bushel while July wheat and July soybeans each gained 7 cents, to $5.96 per bushel and $11.69 per bushel respectively, in early afternoon trade.

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