National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.542; Month Ago: $3.621; Year Ago: $4.418. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $4.034; Month Ago: $4.206; Year Ago: $5.557.

Futures added 0.7 percent in New York after advancing 3.3 percent the previous two sessions. The global economic recovery has gained traction and oil de-stocking gathered pace in recent months, Barkindo said Tuesday. Producers in the U.S. Gulf have cut output by a million barrels a day, or 59 percent, because of Tropical Storm Nate, the Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement said. Oil has inched higher in the past few days -- following the biggest weekly loss since May -- on signs of tighter supply. U.S. crude stockpiles probably fell by 2.4 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report Thursday. Barkindo, speaking in New Delhi, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had boosted oil-demand estimates for this year and next. “OPEC is talking to a market which is currently prepared to listen, given the visible improvements seen during the past few months,” said Ole Sloth Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. Click Read More below for more of the story.

The spread between Brent crude oil futures contracts and U.S. WTI stood at its widest for three years on Friday with the latter set for a second consecutive week of declines as U.S. oil output comes close to matching that of top producer Russia. The premium has doubled to more than $11 a barrel in about a month as a lack of pipeline capacity in the United States traps much of the output inland. U.S. crude production has been rising to record levels since late last year. In March, it jumped 215,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 10.47 million bpd, a new monthly record, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Click Read More below for additional information.