Crude oil closes at $71.81 after seesawing

NEW YORK - Oil and gasoline prices rose yesterday after seesawing on a government report that surprised traders with conflicting data on inventory and refinery utilization.

"We actually had larger-than-expected increases both in crude and [refined] products," which include gasoline, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Ill.

At the same time, he added, "refinery runs failed to increase as much as . . . the industry thought."

In any case, renewed violence in Nigeria overshadowed the government data, analysts said. Police said kidnappers snatched the 3-year-old daughter of an expatriate worker as she was being taken to school yesterday in Nigeria's southern oil region. On Wednesday, gunmen attacked a rig in the same region and seized five expatriate workers.

Wednesday's attack was on a drilling rig on one of the islands in the vast delta region where Africa's biggest oil producer pumps its crude, an official said. An Australian, two New Zealanders, one Lebanese and one Venezuelan were taken, he said.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 40 cents to settle at $71.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had risen as high as $72.35 during yesterday's trading, then fell as low as $70.80 on news of the inventory increases before rebounding.

August gasoline futures rose 1.99 cents to settle at $2.2843 a gallon after falling more than a penny earlier.

Nymex heating-oil futures rose 2.11 cents to settle at $2.0873 a gallon, while natural gas prices fell 13.6 cents to settle at $6.618 per 1,000 cubic feet.

At the pump, gas prices held steady overnight at $2.949 a gallon, but were 0.4 cent lower than the national average price on Tuesday, ahead of the July Fourth holiday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Retail prices peaked at $3.227 a gallon in May.