Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday lifted by data showing a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories last week. Data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the US fell by 4.089 million barrels last week (July 23), over a million barrels up from an expected drop of about 2.9 million barrels. A report released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday showed US crude stocks fell by 4.7 million barrels for the week ended July 23, compared with street expectations for a 2.9 million fall in crude stocks, following a surprise rise in crude inventories the previous week.
Crude oil futures for September rose $0.74 or 1 percent to settle $72.39 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude gained $0.34 or 0.5 percent to settle at $73.86 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.