Oil prices surged again Wednesday to a new high for the year on signs crude demand could be recovering, with U.S. inventories declining more-than-expected last week, and the U.S. Energy Department raising its global demand forecast. Light sweet crude for July delivery rose to a high of $71.79 a barrel before declining to slightly above $71 in late-morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Energy Department reported Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels last week. The department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday that crude prices will likely average $67 a barrel in the second half of 2009, about $16 higher than the first six months of the year. A month ago, the EIA's price-per-barrel forecast for the second half of 2009 was $55. The EIA also forecast that consumers will be paying $2.70 a gallon (3.8 liters) of gasoline by July. The EIA also reported Wednesday a surprising decline in gasoline supplies, which dropped by 1.6 million barrels last week when most analysts had expected a slight increase. U.S. wholesale gasoline prices spiked above $2 a gallon for the first time since early October.
