Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil prices rallied to a five-month high in European trade on Wednesday, amid speculation weekly supply data due later in the session will show U.S. crude inventories rose at a slower pace than expected last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 14:30GMT, or 10:30AM ET, amid expectations for a gain of 2.4 million barrels.
Gasoline stockpiles are expected to fall by 0.4 million barrels while stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, are expected to drop by 0.3 million barrels, according to analysts.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. oil inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended April 22, surprising traders who were expecting an increase of 0.8 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for WTI rose by 1.9 million barrels, the API said, while distillate inventories fell by 1.0 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell by 0.4 million barrels.
Crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to a session peak of $44.87, the most since November 9. It last stood at $44.80 a barrel by 08:05GMT, or 4:05AM ET, up 76 cents, or 1.73%.
A day earlier, Nymex oil prices jumped $1.40, or 3.28%. New York-traded oil prices are up nearly 40% since falling to 13-year lows at $26.05 on February 11, as a decline in U.S. shale production boosted sentiment.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery rose 86 cents, or 1.89%, to trade at $46.44 a barrel after rallying to $46.52, a level not seen since November 25. On Tuesday, London-traded Brent futures rose $1.26, or 2.84%.
Brent futures prices are up by roughly 35% since briefly dropping below $30 a barrel on February 11.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the WTI crude contract stood at $1.64 a barrel, compared to a gap of $1.54 by close of trade on Tuesday.