Oil prices rose Wednesday in anticipation of a report showing further declines in U.S. crude and gasoline supplies. Comments from OPEC that no output increases were needed also supported prices, accoridng to AP. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 39 cents to US$71.12 a barrel by afternoon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, October Brent crude rose 41 cents to US$70.96 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange. Gasoline futures rebounded by just over a penny to US$2.0280 a gallon (3.8 liters) on the Nymex. They have been a main driver of oil prices in recent days, as refinery outages have rekindled concerns about fuel supplies while inventory reports have been indicating gasoline demand has remained strong late into the U.S. driving season. But several of those refinery problems, including a reported outage at Citgo Petroleum Corp.'s refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, are apparently being resolved. A crude distillation unit at Valero Energy Corp.'s refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has also been restarted, although at a lower rate after down time of about a week. And Dow Jones Newswires reported that the processing units at a 330,000 barrel per day Chevron Corp. refinery in Mississippi have returned to service.
