Crude oil prices surged to near-record levels Wednesday on the futures market, pulling gasoline in tow, as a weekly U.S. government energy report showed an unexpected decline in inventories, AP reported. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's inventory report showed crude stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, defying predictions analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires who, on average, expected a 2.4-million-barrel-increase. That sent light, sweet crude for May delivery up $2.51 to $111.01 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising as high as $111.42. Oil prices are within striking distance of a trading record of $111.80 set last month.
