The price of oil surged on international markets.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, rose by 14 cents to $19.41 a barrel. And it rose 20 cents to $19.40 a barrel on the U.S. Gulf Coast spot market, where oil is sold to the highest bidder. On the European spot market, Britain’s North Sea Brent crude shot up 25 cents to $18.85 a barrel. Analysts cited an American Petroleum Institute report that U.S. gasoline inventories declined sharply last week as production and imports of the fuel fell. U.S. refineries operated at less than 80% of capacity for the second consecutive week.