Oil prices hit another record Wednesday after a government report said supplies of crude made a surprise decline and gasoline stocks fell far more than expected.

U.S. light crude for May delivery spiked to $71.79, a new intraday high, just following the report's release, but later fell back and traded at $71.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 21 cents from Tuesday's record $71.35 closing high. Oil was off 45 cents just before the government report.