Investing.com - Crude prices gained smartly in Asia on Wednesday of solid economic growth data in China and as U.S. industry estimates showed a drop in stockpiles.
Crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.03% to $50.81 a barrel. Brent oil for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London gained 0.95% to $52.17 a barrel.
China reported third quarter GDP with a quarter-on-quarter gain of 1.8% meeting expectations along with a year-on-year pace of 6.7% along with solid figures for retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investment.
Earlier, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude oil stocks fell by a surprise 3.8 million barrels last week, following a 2.7 million build the previous week, the first in four weeks. The figures come ahead of more closely-watched official data from the Department of Energy later on Wednesday.
Overnight, oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday, with a planned production cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries largely priced into the market.
OPEC reached an agreement to limit production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held on the sidelines of an energy conference in Algeria late last month.
However, the group said it won’t finalize details or complete its production agreement until its next official meeting in Vienna on November 30, when an invitation to join cuts could also be extended to non-OPEC countries such as Russia.
Market analysts remain skeptical of the deal, amid uncertainty over how the agreement would be implemented.
OPEC's monthly report last week revealed that its oil production rose in September to the highest level in eight years, despite the agreement to potentially cut output.
The producer cartel pumped 33.39 million barrels per day last month, up 220,000 barrels per day from August.