Oil futures remain higher as U.S. crude supplies fall more than expected

Oil holds onto gains after upbeat U.S. inventories
Oil holds onto gains after upbeat U.S. inventories

Investing.com - Oil prices remained higher on Wednesday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed domestic crude supplies declined more than expected last week.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude September contract was at $47.66 a barrel by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT), up 11 cents, or around 0.23%. Prices were at around $47.77 prior to the release of the inventory data.

Elsewhere, Brent oil for October delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London tacked on 20 cents, or 0.41%, to $50.94 a barrel.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 8.94 million barrels in the week ended August 11.

Market analysts' expected a crude-stock decline of around 3.06 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-drop of 9.16 million barrels.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 678,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.

The report also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 253.000 barrels.

For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported an increase of 702.000 barrels.

Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for September ticked up 0.29 cents, or 0.15%, to $1.585 a gallon, while September heating oil slid 0.17 cents to $1.637 a gallon.

Natural gas futures for September delivery lost 1.40%, to $2.894 per million British thermal units.

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