Crude oil futures ended marginally higher on Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended August 28. Data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed U.S. oil stockpiles dropped by 7.169 million barrels last week, more than twice the expected drop of about 3.1 million barrels. A report from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed crude inventories dropped by 4.045 million barrels last week, as against expectations for a 2.833 million decline. Traders also noted that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, decided in a meeting today to stick to their earlier plan of boosting oil production by 400,000 barrels per day each month through December.
Crude oil futures for October gained $0.09 or about 0.1 percent to settle $68.59 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, November Brent crude fell $0.16 or about 0.22% percent to settle at $71.47 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.