Getting your player ready...
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose Wednesday even though the government reported the nation is consuming less than it has in years and inventories are bloated with the most surplus crude in nearly two decades.
The Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that oil inventories jumped by 4.1 million barrels for the week that ended April 24 to 374.7 million barrels. That’s more than twice what was expected by analysts, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Benchmark crude for June delivery gained $1.05 to settle at $50.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
