Oil Prices Maintain Gains After Data Shows Large Draw in U.S. Inventories

The rally of oil prices continued on Wednesday, supported by the decline in the United States crude inventories last week, as shown by the weekly report of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) earlier today.

In addition, the prospects of increases government stimulus spending in the U.S. is proving support for crude prices, alongside the commitment of the OPEC+ alliance to output cuts.

Brent crude futures for April delivery rose by 38 cents, or 0.6%, to finish at $61.47 per barrel, rising for the ninth consecutive session.

This is the longest rising streak for the global benchmark most active contracts since January 2019.

Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for March delivery closed higher by 32 cents, or about 0.6%, at $58.68 per barrel, its highest closing level since January 2020, and rising for the eighth session in a row for the first time since January 2019.

Commercial crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 6.6 million barrels last week to reach 469.0 million barrels.