Crude oil futures climbed further Wednesday ahead of a weekly report on U.S. petroleum stocks that will gauge gasoline inventories in the world's biggest consumer market ahead of the summer driving season. Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, said inventories were strong, with more oil in the market than the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had expected. Although he said it was too early to predict what OPEC will do at its June meeting, Al Attiyah said the group will consider factors "including the inventories." Light, sweet crude for May delivery was up 19 cents at US$52.48 per barrel by late morning in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil edged up to trade at US$1.4934 a gallon (3.8 liters), while unleaded gasoline fell slightly to US$1.5686 per gallon (3.8 liters). On London's International Petroleum Exchange, Brent crude June contracts were up 45 cents to US$53.39 per barrel. Al Attiyah, speaking in Paris on Wednesday, said "I believe today the market's very, very balanced," he said. "The inventory today is the highest since 2002. So it means there's more oil in the market than we expected."
