Investing.com - Crude oil prices rose in Asia on Wednesday as industry data showed a solid drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Crude supplies fell 3.1 million barrels in the U.S. last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, signalling that refineries are ramping up for winter heating oil demand. Data for refined products was not immediately available.
More closely-watched figures from the U.S. Department of Energy on crude and refined product supplies are due on Wednesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for October delivery rose 98% to $45.03 a barrel.
Overnight, U.S. crude rose moderately after paring earlier gains late in the session, amid signs of weakening demand in Asia and a tighter spread with brent futures before October contracts expired at the end of trading on Tuesday.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Brent crude for November delivery traded in a tight range between $47.02 and $47.95 a barrel, before closing at $47.84, up 0.49 or 1.05% on the day. One session earlier, Brent fell nearly 4% to $46.26, its lowest level in more than two weeks.
With October contracts for North Sea brent futures set to expire as the front-month at Tuesday's settlement, the spread between the international and U.S. benchmarks of crude continued to tighten. At one point during Tuesday's session, the spread between the October contracts fell to $1.31, its lowest level since January.
Meanwhile, trading remained light ahead of the release of the American Petroleum Institute's weekly crude inventory report on Tuesday after the bell. Last week, both the API and the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a build in excess of 2 million barrels per day.
In addition, Genscape, Inc. a leading provider of energy data for global commodity markets, reported that inventories at the Cushing Oil Hub, the main delivery point for NYMEX oil, increased by 1.8 million barrels per day for the week ending on Sept. 11. The bullish data could provide signals that long-term crude prices might be ready to rebound.