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NEW YORK : Oil prices vaulted higher on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected stockpile figures in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, prompted a renewed surge in prices.
Traders said the gains also reflected fresh jitters on the dollar, with players switching back into commodities as a result.
New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, jumped 4.68 dollars to close at 105.90 dollars per barrel.
London's Brent North Sea crude for May rose 3.39 dollars to settle at 103.99 dollars.
The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that its crude stockpiles were unchanged at 311.8 million barrels in the week ending March 21.
That contrasted sharply with market expectations for a weekly gain of 1.8 million barrels.
The data "reflects continued tightness in the crude oil market, as evidenced by the sharp fall in crude oil imports and the fall in crude oil stocks relative to the five-year average," said Barclays Capital analyst Costanza Jacazio.
"Overall it gives the picture of a tight crude oil market and improving gasoline market on the back of an extremely low level of production."
Prices were supported by strong demand and stretched global supplies, which were further pressured by the OPEC cartel's decision to maintain its output levels earlier this month.
Oil prices also extended Tuesday's gains "amid persistent weakness in the US dollar and as investors were putting their money back into commodities," said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
"Just as it happened before, dollar weakness prompted market participants to put their money into dollar denominated commodities, as they become relatively cheaper for foreign investors, while some use commodities as a hedge against inflation," he added.
"Commodities are cool once again," said Phil Flynn at Alaron Trading.
"So much for the 'great unwind.' Money poured back into commodities just days after everyone was supposed to reduce leverage and avoid risk."
Although prices were rising Wednesday, they remained below all-time highs of almost 112 dollars reached early last week.
Oil has been supported by long-term concerns over the ability of producers to meet rising energy demand from the developing world, notably China and India.
New York crude hit a record intraday high of 111.80 dollars on March 17, while London Brent scored an historic peak of 108.02 dollars earlier this month.
Prices have hit a series of lifetime highs this year on the back of massive demand as investors also seek shelter from choppy stock markets.
The price of oil has doubled since the start of 2007. - AFP/de
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