Oil prices retreat on federal report

A benign petroleum-supply snapshot helped send oil prices down by more than $1 a barrel Wednesday, although analysts said crude futures – still above $60 a barrel – weren’t likely to fall too far given the market’s jitters about rising global demand and U.S. refinery snags.

The Department of Energy released data Wednesday showing that domestic inventories of gasoline fell sharply last week, but that supplies of crude oil and diesel grew.

Light sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.03 to settle at $60.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had climbed as high as $62.50 a barrel before the government data were released, surpassing the previous intraday high of $62.30, set Tuesday.