Oil jumps 14% as inventories show surprise decline
By Moming Zhou & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
Last update: 3:12 p.m. EST Feb. 19, 2009Comments: 98NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures jumped 14% Thursday to end near $40 a barrel, marking the biggest one-day gain since the end of last year, after U.S. inventories showed a surprise decline last week as consumption started picking up.
The U.S. consumed nearly 20 million barrels a day of petroleum products over the past four weeks, up 2.6% from a month ago to the highest level in one year, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.
Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 200,000 barrels last week. Most analysts were expecting a buildup of 2 million to 4 million barrels.
Crude oil for March delivery rose $4.86 to end at $39.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"With gasoline prices two-thirds of last year at the pump it isn't a big surprise to see us using more gasoline even though many are losing jobs," said James Williams, an economist at energy research firm WTRG Economics. "There is no way to read this report that isn't bullish."
The March contract will expire at the end of trading on Friday. Trading more actively, April crude gained 7.4% to $40.18 a barrel
