New York crude broke through the $120 mark to a three-month high

June 9 news, the United States demand for gasoline continued to rise, while expected overseas crude oil demand to rise and the outlook for crude oil supply in many countries is worrying, crude oil futures closed higher, New York crude oil broke through the $120 mark to hit a three-month high
.

July West Texas Intermediate crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.
70, or 2.
3 percent, to settle at $122.
11 a barrel, the highest close for a front-month contract since March 8
.
ICE Futures Eurofutures August Brent crude futures rose $3.
01, or 2.
5 percent, to settle at $123.
58 a barrel, also the highest level
since March 8.

Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gasoline prices rose 1.
5% in July to settle at $4.
2219 a gallon, just 0.
7%
off the all-time high set on June 3.
July heating oil fell 0.
2 percent to $
43,143 a gallon.
Natural gas fell 6.
4 percent in July to settle at $8.
699 per million British thermal heat, closing Monday at a nearly 14-year high on a fire
at a Texas LNG export terminal.

U.
S.
crude inventories fell by 2 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell by 800,000 barrels and distillate inventories increased by 2.
6 million barrels
in the week ended June 3, the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights expect crude oil inventories to fall by 2.
9 million barrels, gasoline inventories by 2 million barrels and distillate inventories by 800,000 barrels
.

KplerU.
S.
Chief Oil Analyst Matt Smith? "The jump in refining activity, combined with strong East Coast imports, cannot avoid a pull on gasoline inventories as implied demand jumps to the highest weekly level
of the year," Matt Smith said.
At the same time, gasoline prices have hit new highs and futures markets are trading near all-time highs
.

Smith said there was a much-needed increase in gasoline inventories on the East Coast, with gasoline imports exceeding 1 million barrels
per day for the first time since the summer driving rush in July.
At the same time, distillate inventories rose
due to higher refinery runs and lower implied demand.

Industry trade group American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that crude oil inventories rose by 1.
85 million barrels, gasoline inventories by 1.
82 million barrels and distillate inventories by 3.
38 million barrels
, according to sources.

Commerzbank commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch noted that the crack spread (i.
e.
the spread between the price of a barrel of oil and the price of a refineable petroleum product) narrowed on Tuesday but remained close to record levels, which may reflect data from API
.

He noted that the so-called "3-2-1 crack spread" in which U.
S.
refineries convert 3 barrels of WTI into 2 barrels of gasoline and 1 barrel of diesel generate revenue now stands at $
56.
50 after hitting a record high of $62.
50 a barrel earlier this week.

Jeremy Weir, chief executive of Trafigura, one of the world's largest commodities trading firms, warned at a Financial Times event on Tuesday that crude prices could touch $150 a barrel and could see a "parabola" that poses a threat
to the global economic outlook.

Fritsch said Norwegian offshore oil workers could strike next week, also providing support for the oil industry, noting that Norway is Europe's most important oil and gas producer after Russia
.

According to Reuters, the union said 845 of Norway's 7,500 offshore oil and gas workers began a strike on Sunday with limited impact on oil production, while gas production will not be affected
by the situation in Europe caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this week, natural gas prices closed at near 14-year highs, rising in early trading but closing lower
.
News reports said a fire at an export facility operated by Freeport LNG in Texas caused natural gas prices to fall.

The report said the fire had been extinguished and no employees were injured
.
The blazes are believed to have reduced demand for exported gas, and a Freeport LNG spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.