Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil extended gains in North American trade on Wednesday, as data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. fell more than expected.
Crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange surged 1.69 cents or 2.54% to trade at $68.21 a barrel by 10:32 AM ET (2:32GMT) compared to $67.72 ahead of the report.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 1.071 million barrels in the week ended April 13. Market analysts' had expected a crude-stock decline of 500,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a decline of 1.047 million.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 1.115 million barrels last week, the EIA said. Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 427.6 million barrels as of last week, according to a press release, which the EIA considered to be “in the lower half of the average range for this time of year”.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 2.968 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decrease of 227,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 3.107 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decline of 1268,000.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for June delivery rose to $73.19 by 10:39 AM ET (14:39GMT).
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ and Russia is expected to meet in Saudi Arabia on Friday. The organizations efforts to curb production and end a global supply glut has been successful but the group is expected to continue to maintain the cuts.
OPEC has been cutting crude output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to prop up oil prices. The pact began in January 2017 and is set to expire at the end of 2018 but de-facto leader Saudi Arabia is pushing for the cuts to extend into 2019.
Oil prices were also support from geopolitical jitters in the Middle East. The region is the world's most important crude exporter and tension there tends to put oil markets on edge.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for May delivery rose 1.25% to $2.0701 a gallon by 10:40 AM ET (14:49 GMT), while May heating oil gained 1.73% to $2.0927 a gallon.