Oil prices rose Monday ahead of the expected restarts at U.S. refineries and Nigerian presidential elections. The tenth consecutive week of draws on U.S. gasoline inventories last week also had potential to exert upward pressure on prices, the Associated Press reported. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 24 cents to US$63.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. The contract is likely to experience slow trading because it expires this week. Brent crude for June was up 42 cents at US$68.77 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. Gasoline supplies sank during the first week of April amid strong demand, with stockpiles down 5.5 million barrels to 199.7 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures were up half a cent at US$1.9060 a gallon while natural gas prices were down 8 cents to US$7.721 per 1,000 cubic feet.
