Crude Prices Jump on U.S. Inventories

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Crude prices jumped on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories fell last week.

Commercial crude inventories decreased by 500,000 barrels to 357.9 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Gasoline inventories shrank by 3.5 million barrels to 222.6 million barrels. Demand for gasoline over the four weeks that ended Sept. 24 averaged 9.1 million barrels a day, an increase of nearly 1 percent from the same period of 2009.

Inventories of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.3 million barrels to 173.6 million barrels.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery gained 1.20 U.S. dollars to settle at 77.86 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude rose 2.06 dollars to settle at 80.77 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.