Oil prices climbed on Wednesday after data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery added 70 cents to settle at 50.63 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time since last February. Brent crude for March delivery increased 70 cents to close at 54.30 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 8.0 million barrels during the week ending Jan. 1, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Analysts polled by the Reuters had expected the EIA publication to show a 2.1 million-barrel drop in U.S. supplies last week.
At 485.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were about 9 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Oil prices also found a support as Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledged a voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day beyond the required OPEC+ quotas in February and March.
Editor: Galia
