Oil prices surged to a three-month high Wednesday after government data showed demand for gasoline and diesel fuel was far higher than even bullish expectations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said gasoline stockpiles fell last week three times as much as expected and diesel stockpiles fell double what was expected. Those are positive signs for demand and have surprised traders, sparking a slate of buying despite crude stockpiles that added another 3.9 million barrels, brokers said. “It looks like we had a pickup in demand, up to about 20 million barrels a day,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, “All in all, I think this is a positive for oil.” Light, sweet crude settled up $1.79, or 4.9%, at $38.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Dec. 4. Brent, the global benchmark, rose $1.42, or 3.6%, to […]