Petroleum Futures Higher

Petroleum futures were mostly higher in choppy trading Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Concern about tight supplies of gasoline in the New York Harbor gateway and the Gulf of Mexico prompted a run-up in gasoline prices, said Peter Beutel, a petroleum broker with Rudolf Wolff Energy Group.

Gasoline prices had been sliding in previous weeks, Beutel said, and speculators who had sold contracts anticipating further decreases were forced to buy them back as prices advanced through levels that were considered significant on price charts.

Beutel said petroleum refiners had reduced their refinery runs after prices declined, which contributed to the tight supplies of gasoline and was partly responsible for the rally.

Heating oil prices were supported by buying that was coming primarly from traders who follow trends on price charts, Beutel said. Further, he said, the weekly report from the American Petroleum Institute disclosed a reduction in distillate stocks, which include heating oil.

Grain and soybean futures prices were mostly higher on the Chicago Board of Trade.