Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained $2.60 to close at a record $143.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Energy Department reported that crude oil inventories decreased by 2 million barrels last week.  Analysts were forecasting a decline of roughly 1.2 million barrels.

In contrast the EIA numbers on gasoline showed an increase of 2.1 million barrels.  This number was larger than analyst forecasts and signals a reduced demand for gasoline by American drivers.

Gasoline inventories posted a decline of 100,000 barrels in the previous week.