Oil prices hit impressive highs on Wednesday, October 5, leaping to their highest since June, after the U.S. government reported another surprise weekly drawdown in crude inventories, Reuters reports.
Brent crude gained 89 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $51.76 a barrel at 3:22 p.m. ET (1932 GMT), off a nearly four-month of $52.09 struck earlier in the session.
U.S. West Texas crude settled up $1.14, or 2.3 percent, at $49.83, after earlier rising to $49.97, its highest level since June 29.
U.S. crude inventories dropped by 3 million barrels to a total of 499.7 barrels in the week through Sept. 30, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday. That marked a fifth straight weekly drop.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a build of 2.6 million barrels. But the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group, on Tuesday set market expectations for an inventory decline by reporting a 7.6 million-barrel drop.
Crude turns positive on surprise inventory drawdown Crude turns positive on surprise inventory drawdown
Tuesday, 4 Oct 2016 | 4:37 PM ET | 03:57
“Hence positive news has already been baked in the cake, and prices could ease lower from here, especially given the rampant rally of recent days,” said Matt Smith, analyst at New York-based Clipperdata, which analyses data and impact from crude cargoes and supplies.
The drawdown came even as refineries cut output and as imports of crude oil fell by 125,000 barrels a day.
Gasoline stocks rose by 222,000 barrels, compared with analyst expectations in a Reuters poll for a 702,000-barrel gain.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.4 million barrels, versus expectations for a 700,000-barrel drop, the data showed.
OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers plan an informal meeting in Istanbul Oct. 8-13 to discuss how to implement a production deal OPEC members reached in Algiers last month, Algerian Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa has told local Ennahar TV.
