World oil prices have surged

In Thursday trading US light crude rose 14 cents to $35.82 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 13 cents to $31.70.

The rises follow Wednesday's big $1 a barrel jump after an official US report showed a decline in the amount of gasoline the country was stockpiling.

Traditionally American increases its petrol stocks at this time of the year ahead of peak use in the summer.

Market response

But the Energy Information Administration, which publishes US oil stocks data each week, revealed on Wednesday that the country's stocks of gasoline and other oil-based products had declined.

It also confirmed that the US's crude oil tanks were unchanged at an almost historic low.

The US uses more petrol in the summer because of people getting out and about in their vehicles during the holiday season.

Analysts believe it will be a good few weeks before the price of oil stabilises.

"We'll have to see a number of weeks of pretty solid stock builds and higher refinery utilisation before the market will settle down," said David Thurtell, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.