WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled slightly higher on Wednesday, supported by data showing a drop in crude stockpiles in the U.S. in the week ended January 28.
However, the rise was just marginal as the OPEC and its allies approved another 400,000 barrels per day in production that will begin in March.
OPEC+ faced pressure from world's leading consumers such as the U.S. and India to pump more to reduce prices and support economic recovery. However, the group has resisted calls for stepping up the pace of increases despite higher oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up by $0.06 or nearly 0.1% at $88.26 a barrel, well off the day's high of $89.72 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled higher by $0.35% at 89.47 a barrel today.
Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories dropped by 1.046 million barrels last week, as against expectations for a rise of 1.525 million barrels.
The EIA data also said oil stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma fell by 1.2 million barrels last week.
Gasoline inventories rose by 2.119 million barrels last week. Distillate stockpiles fell by 2.411 million barrels, more than 1.7 times the expected drop, the EIA data showed.
The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that U.S. oil inventories fell 1.65 million barrels last week to meet increased demand. Analysts had forecast a 1.5 million barrels rise.
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