Investing.com - Oil prices climbed Wednesday as a large drawdown in U.S. crude supplies and products overshadowed a surge in U.S. output to record levels.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange WTI crude futures rose 1.5% to settle at $55.75 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added 1.32% to trade at $59.81 barrel.
Inventories of U.S. crude fell by 10.03 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 23, much more than expectations for a draw of 2.11 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The large draw in crude supplies comes as imports fell by about 1.51 million bpd, more than offsetting a 216,000 bpd build in exports, data from EIA showed.
Gasoline inventories declined by 2.09 million barrels, compared with expectations for a draw of 0.39 million barrels, while supplies of distillate -- the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil -- fell by 2.06 million barrels, confounding expectations for a build of 0.92 million barrels.
The draw in products emerged as refinery activity slipped to 95.2% of their capacity last week from 95.9% the week before, with crude inputs averaging about 17.41 million barrels per day, down 240,000 barrels from the prior week, the EIA said.
The large draw in products and crude comes even as U.S. production rose to a record 12.5 million bpd for the week ended Aug. 23, consolidating the United States position as the world's biggest oil producer.
Signs of tightening oil supplies arrive as a slowing global economy - driven largely by the U.S-China trade war - threatens oil demand, keeping a lid on oil prices, with WTI futures down nearly 16% since their April peak.