WTI adds almost $3 ahead of inventories

Crude oil prices were higher on Wednesday ahead of the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on inventories, delayed until Thursday due to Monday’s Veteran’s Day holiday in the United States.

Prices were also pushed up by a statement from an OPEC official who said that there is no need for his organization to put more oil on the market.

At the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $2.92 to $94.09 per barrel while December contracts for Brent crude added $2.37 to $91.20 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex December gasoline was 5 cents higher to $2.37 per gallon while December heating oil gained 7 cents to $2.57 per gallon.

Gasoline prices at the pump in the United States were up 0.6 percent overnight to an average $2.111 per gallon nationally, according to the American Automobile Association and the Oil Price Information Service and are expected by some to go up at least 10 more cents per gallon.

The Oil Price Information Service said in a new study that the cost to fuel one motor vehicle has risen to 3.8 percent of median household income, nearly 2 percent higher than the cost to do so in 2002, and that many families will end up spending $80 to $90 more than usual on gasoline during the holiday season this year.