Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel today after energy traders ignored OPEC's decision to raise its output target by half a million barrels and the U.S. Energy Department said domestic supplies shrank last week amid rising demand for gasoline. Light sweet crude for July delivery rose $1.50 to $56.50 per barrel in midday trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, benchmark Brent crude futures rose 77 cents to $54.50 a barrel. The Energy Department's weekly inventory report showed that U.S. supplies of crude oil fell by 1.8 million barrels last week to 329 million barrels. Despite the decline, supplies are nearly 9 percent above year-ago levels. The department said gasoline inventories fell by 900,000 barrels to 215.7 million barrels, or 5 percent higher than a year ago. Supplies of distillate fuel-including heating oil, diesel, and jet fuel-grew by 2.5 million barrels to 110.2 million barrels, or 1 percent above year-ago levels. --More 2047 Local Time 1747 GMT
