Oil prices rallied on Monday, with U.S crude up more than 3 percent, amid a jump in gasoline prices and on concerns that U.S. crude production may slow as drilling steadily declines.
Global oil benchmark Brent gained 2 percent, narrowing its premium over U.S. crude to below the $2 a barrel level due to improved fundamentals for U.S. crude.
Gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were up over 3 percent after a fire was reported on Saturday at an unit of Husky Energy’s 155,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Lima, Ohio.
The premium for refining gasoline from crude, known as the gasoline crack, reached its highest in nearly two weeks, rising a combined 17 percent over two sessions.
In crude oil, market intelligence firm Genscape added to positive sentiment by estimating a draw of nearly 810,000 barrels in the week ending Sept. 15 from storage tanks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the main delivery point for U.S. crude futures, traders who have seen the data said.
