Investing.com -- Crude futures rose considerably on Wednesday reaching its highest level since December, as a lower than expected buildup last week eased continuing supply concerns.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for June delivery surged 3.31% to $59 a barrel in U.S. afternoon trading, before paring some of the gains after a rate statement by the Federal Reserve. Texas Light Sweet settled at 58.55, up 1.49 or 2.61%.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday in its weekly supply report that crude inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels for the week that ended April 24. The buildup was far below consensus estimates of a 3.3 million barrel increase.
The build pushed up current U.S. crude inventories to 490.9 million barrels, the most in at least 80 years. A week earlier, crude inventories surged by 5.3 million barrels for the week that ended April 17 -- above forecasts of a 3.2 million build.
In addition, crude inventories at the Cushing Oil Hub in Oklahoma fell by 514,000 on the week, well below forecasts of a 400,000 gain. The decline marked the first draw at the largest crude storage facility in the U.S. since last November.
While record production over the last year has sent crude storage to near maximum storage capacity nationwide, output has leveled off in recent weeks. U.S. crude futures have remained above $50 throughout the month of April amid expectations that shale field production has peaked.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), meanwhile, brent crude for June gained 1.19 or 1.84% to 65.83 a barrel. Brent crude futures are also up by more than 15% on the month. The spread between the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude stood at $7.28, down from $7.58 on Tuesday.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.90% to 95.33 amid soft GDP data. U.S. GDP for the first quarter grew at 0.2%, far below expectations for growth of 1%. The figures were in line with forecasts by the Federal Reserve of Atlanta, which predicted GDP growth of 0.2%. GDP revisions for the fourth quarter of last year remained unchanged at 2.2%.
The dollar index pared earlier losses following an announcement by the Fed in U.S. afternoon trading. Upon the completion of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day April meeting, the Fed removed all calendar references on the timing of an interest rate hike.
There is now growing speculation that the Fed could wait until September or possibly December before raising rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Previously, there were expectations that the U.S. central bank could institute a rate hike in June.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 93 suspects with ties to the Islamic State on Tuesday. The suspects allegedly had plans of targeting the U.S. Embassy, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry. Energy traders are sensitive to geopolitical risky news involving Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest exporters.