Oil prices rise as US crude inventories show large drop

05/08/2020 11:34 AST

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after inventory data showed a big drop in U.S. crude stocks although gains were capped by concerns over fuel demand with mounting global COVID-19 cases.

Brent crude was up by 31 cents, or 0.7%, at $44.74 a barrel by 0713 GMT. The contract rose 0.6% on Wednesday to its highest close since March 6. West Texas Intermediate oil was up by 26 cents, or 0.6%, at $41.96 a barrel. The contract ended Tuesday trading 1.7% higher, its highest close since late July.

Crude inventories fell 8.6 million barrels in the week to Aug. 1 to 520 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a drop of 3 million barrels, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry organization.

Official figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration are due out later on Wednesday. "A much larger fall will all but confirm that U.S. oil production has fallen materially, by possibly millions of barrels a day," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.


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