Oil rises as market waits on supply data

[July 24, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The price of oil rose Tuesday as the market awaited the latest data on U.S. crude oil and gasoline supplies.

Benchmark crude for September delivery rose 29 cents to close at $107.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The government's weekly report on America's inventories of crude is expected to show another drop in supplies. Falling supplies have helped propel the price of oil to a 16-month high this month, boosting gasoline prices as well.

A survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., shows analysts expect a decline in crude oil inventories of 2.6 million barrels for the week ended July 19. That would bring the four-week drop to nearly 30 million barrels.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its report on oil stocks later Tuesday, while the report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration -- the market benchmark -- will be out on Wednesday.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of gasoline held steady at $3.67. That's up 10 cents from a month ago and 20 cents higher than at this time last year.

Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, rose 27 cents to finish at $108.42 a barrel.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

• Wholesale gasoline was flat at $3.06 a gallon.

• Heating oil was flat at $3.07 a gallon.

• Natural gas gained 7 cents to end at $3.74 per 1,000 cubic feet.

[Associated Press]

AP writer Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.

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