WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices inched higher Wednesday, bouncing back above $52 a barrel amid a drop in U.S. crude inventories.
Nov. WTI oil climbed 16 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $52.04/bbl.
Crude inventories fell 5.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 13, the EIA data showed, a slightly larger decline than expected.
U.S. crude production dropped to 8.4 million barrels per day, down over a 1 million bpd from a week earlier, largely due to another tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.127 million in September from the revised August estimate of 1.183 million. Housing starts has been expected to edge down by 0.5 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX