Whats up with gas

Oil prices dropped more than $2.50 a barrel Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a large build in domestic crude inventories and President Bush urged construction of new oil refineries.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $2.59 to $51.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gas futures plunged 8.32 cents to $1.5419 a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 3.39 cents to $1.474 a gallon.
The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that the inventories of crude oil in the largest consuming nation grew by 5.5 million barrels last week to 324.4 million barrels, or 9 percent above year ago levels.
Unleaded gasoline supplies shrank by 300,000 barrels to 211.3 million barrels, or 4.6 percent above year ago levels. The inventory of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and jet fuel, fell by 1.4 million barrels to 102.6 million barrels, or 0.4 percent above year ago levels.
Saudi Arabia has outlined a plan to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 from the current 11 million limit. Saudi Arabia now pumps about 9.5 million barrels daily. If necessary, Saudi Arabia says it will eventually develop a capacity of 15 million barrels a day.
Iran is one of 11 member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Officials from two other OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have said a global lack of refining capacity, not a shortage of crude oil, is to blame for an almost 50 percent surge in world prices over the last year.