From Reuters via CNBC:
Oil prices spiked on Wednesday after the government reported a surprisingly large drop in U.S. crude inventories and as an oil services workers strike in Norway threatened to cut North Sea output.Here's the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels to a total of 504.6 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 16, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Market participants had forecast an increase of 3.4 million barrels, according to a Reuters poll.
Gasoline stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 567,000 barrels drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 250,000 barrels increase, the EIA data showed.
Brent crude futures were up 95 cents, or 2.1 percent at $46.83 per barrel by 10:33 a.m. ET (1433 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $1.11, or 2.5 percent, to $45.16 a barrel.
Oil earlier took its cue from American Petroleum Institute (API) data, which also showed a much larger than expected drop in crude in storage.
Adding to the upward price momentum was an oil service workers strike in Norway that could impact output from western Europe's biggest crude producing region....MORE
