WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices traded higher on Wednesday after a two-day decline.
Benchmark Brent crude futures were up 0.7 percent at $73.8 in European trade, after having fallen 1.7 percent over the previous two sessions. WTI crude futures edged up by 0.2 percent to $70.22.
The rebound comes as industry data signaled a sizeable drawdown in U.S. commercial crude inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. stockpiles shrank by 4.7 million barrels last week, while analysts had expected a draw of 1.85 million barrels.
That would mark a fourth straight decline if confirmed by official figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration later in the day.
Investors also await the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision later in the day for additional clues on the Fed's rate trajectory, heading into 2025.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points but the focus will be on the release of Summary of Economic Projections, which will unveil the U.S. Fed dot plot.
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