Crude-oil inventories dropped last week for the third straight period, down by 4.8 million barrels to 306.8 million barrels — 11.8 percent below year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts expected a gain of 2.7 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill [...]

Oil prices fell sharply, dropping below $124 a barrel, as demand concerns grew and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that more interest-rate cuts are unlikely. Bernanke’s comments sent the dollar higher and raised questions about the chances of oil reaching new highs in the short term.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $3.45 to [...]

Gasoline demand at the pump last week fell 3.6 percent from the week before, according to a survey by MasterCard SpendingPulse. Compared with the same week last year, demand was down 4.7 percent.
Study author Michael McNamara says post-Memorial Day holiday pumping accounts for much of the week-to-week decrease, but the year-to-year decline shows that demand [...]

Gasoline held steady near an average $3.98 a gallon at the pump, as oil prices rose modestly after an OPEC official again said there’s no need for the cartel to pump more oil and rough weather closed Mexican oil ports.
The national average price of a gallon of regular gas was unchanged at $3.975, according to [...]

Federal regulators are six months into a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday said it started the probe in December and took the unusual step of publicizing it “because of today’s unprecedented market conditions.”
Crude prices have risen more than 42 percent since [...]

Retail gas prices rose one cent Friday to a new national average over $3.96 a gallon, putting them on a course to hit $4 by early next week. Oil futures settled higher after trading in a narrow range.
Light sweet crude for July delivery rose 73 cents to settle at $127.35 a barrel.
At the pump, gas [...]

Shares of oil refiners fell, as concern grew among analysts and investors that high gasoline pump prices are putting a big crimp in fuel demand.
In a note to investors, Lehman Brothers analyst Paul Cheng cited fresh data from the Department of Energy and the Federal Highway Administration as further evidence to support his bearish view [...]

Crude-oil inventories fell unexpectedly last week for the second straight period. But government data suggests it is probably not because demand has risen, and that helped push crude prices down.
For the week ended May 23, crude-oil inventories shrank by 8.8 million barrels, down 2.7 percent from the previous week, to 311.6 million barrels, the Energy [...]

Oil futures rose above $130 again, recovering from early losses as threats against Nigerian oil facilities led investors to at least temporarily set aside concern about falling U.S. gas demand.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $2.18 to settle at $131.03 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after spending the morning swinging between gains and [...]

A survey by MasterCard SpendingPulse shows retail gasoline demand at the pump last week rose 2.7 percent when compared with the week before. Looking at the comparable week a year ago, demand was down 5.5 percent.
The four-week moving average showed an even bigger decline in demand — down 6.3 percent from a year ago.
Survey author [...]