Oil hits $60 for first time since November

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a one-day pause, oil prices resumed their trek higher Tuesday, hitting $60 a barrel for the first time since Nov. 10. Gas prices also moved higher again and now are up 40 percent off the low reached in December.

Benchmark crude for June delivery rose 23 cents to $58.73 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was as high as $60.08, about 85 percent above the low of $32.40 it reached on Dec. 19.

Prices at the pump jumped again overnight, rising 2.2 cents to $2.248 a gallon after hitting a low of $1.61 a gallon in December, according to motor club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are up 16.9 cents in the past week and 19.6 cents higher than a month ago.

Despite the jump, prices are $1.47 a barrel below their year-ago levels as crude and gasoline prices raced to a record $147 a barrel and $4.11 a gallon last summer.

"Today, it's more of the weakening of the U.S. dollar, spilling into the crude oil space," said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

Crude is priced in dollars, which makes it cheaper to buy when the dollar falls.

Prices have climbed despite continued lack of demand, evidenced by U.S. crude stocks that are near 19-year highs.

Traders are watching for inventory levels to go even higher when the Energy Information Administration releases its weekly petroleum inventory data on Wednesday.

Analysts expect inventories to increase by 1.4 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Crude stocks rose 600,000 barrels last week.

Analysts expect gasoline stocks to rise 400,000 barrels and distillates stocks used for diesel and heating oil to rise by 1 million barrels. The refinery utilization rate is expected to remain at 85.3 percent.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for June delivery fell 1.56 cents to $1.6646 a gallon and heating oil dipped 0.18 cent to $1.4991 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery rose close 3.5 cents to $4.337 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices rose added 31 cents at $57.79 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.