Investing.com - WTI crude oil prices settled sharply higher Wednesday as traders cheered a government inventory report showing U.S. crude supplies fell by more-than-expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for October delivery rose 3.1% to settle at $67.86 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 2.85% to trade at $74.70 barrel.
Inventories of U.S. crude fell by 5.836 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 17, well above expectations for a draw of 1.497 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The large draw in crude supplies emerged as imports fell by about 1.059 million barrels a day (bpd), while exports fell by 2.58 million bpd, data from EIA showed.
Gasoline inventories rose by 1.200 million barrels, confounding expectations for a draw of 0.488 million barrels, while supplies of distillate -- the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil -- rose by 1.849 million barrels, against expectations for a build of 1.463 million barrels.
The build in products came as refinery activity was unchanged at 98.1% of their capacity last week compared with the prior week, with inputs averaging about 17.89 million barrels per day during, down 89,000 barrels from the prior week, the EIA said.
U.S. oil production rose for the second-straight week to match record highs of 11.0 million bpd.
Rising U.S. output did little to dent oil prices as investors continued to expect that global supplies will come under pressure when sanctions on Iran, targeting the country's energy exports, go into effect in early November.
Some have said that the loss of Iranian crude from global market could be as much as 1 million barrels a day.
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement in May, allowing sanctions against Iran to snap back into place. The first wave of sanctions went into effect last month.