Crude oil prices rose after Royal Dutch/Shell said it shut part of a refinery in the US yesterday following a burst pipe and as traders await official US inventories data just a few days after the start of the summer driving season in the US. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, gained 45 cents to 52.42 usd a barrel in electronic deals. While in London, Brent crude oil for settlement in July jumped 63 cents to 51.36 usd a barrel. Shell on Tuesday shut two units used to produce gasoline, or petrol, at a refinery in Texas, traders in London said. A spokeswoman for Shell said she was aware of the incident at its Deer Park refinery but was unable to give further detail. "Production is reported as normal so I don't think it's having a great price effect at the moment," a trader at Bache Financial said. US crude oil inventories are due to be published Thursday, a day later than usual owing to a long holiday weekend in the US. The US summer driving season officially kicked off on Monday's public holiday, bringing gasoline demand into focus as many Americans began taking to the open roads for their vacations. OPEC's president Sheikh Ahmed Fahd al-Sabah said today that it will most likely maintain current output levels at its next meeting set for June 15 in Vienna.