WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a fifth straight session, after data showed a drop in crude stockpiles in the U.S.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.53, or about 0.9%, at $58.58 a barrel.
On Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures for September ended up $1.18, or about 2.1%, at $58.05 a barrel.
According to the data released by U.S. Energy Information Administration this morning, crude inventories in the U.S. dropped by about 8.5 million barrels in the week ended July 26, nearly 2.5 times more than the expected drop.
The data also showed that gasoline inventories were down by 1.8 million barrels in the week, while distillate stockpiles declined by 900,000 barrels.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 6 million-barrel drop in crude stockpiles last week.
The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee voted to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, as widely expected.
The Fed said it decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate to 2 to 2.25%, down 25 basis points from the previous range of 2.25 to 2.5%.
The bank cited implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted inflation pressures as reasons for the rate cut.
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