Oil Rises Due to a Sudden Drop in US Crude Stocks

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, continuing the strong gains recorded in the previous session, after data in the sector revealed that US crude stocks fell unexpectedly last week, with travel demand starting to recover in the short term with the easing of pandemic restrictions.

Brent crude futures rose 44 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $85.22 a barrel. It had posted a 1.6 percent increase on Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $84.31 a barrel, in addition to a 2.7 percent increase on Tuesday.

The two crudes touched their highest levels in two weeks early in the session on Wednesday, supported by the lack of global oil stocks in the past months, while the latest data from the American Petroleum Institute reinforced expectations that supplies will remain limited.

Market sources said that the data of the American Petroleum Institute revealed a decline in US crude stocks by 2.5 million barrels in the week ending on the fifth of November, compared to expectations of analysts in a Reuters poll, an increase of 2.1 million barrels.