Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday on speculation the Biden administration might consider refilling the country’s oil reserve, and on data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles last week. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that gasoline inventories dropped by 1.8 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles rose by 4.2 million barrels. Meanwhile, data from EIA showed US crude inventories increased by 2.4 million barrels in the week ended September 9th. Besides, IEA said it expects widespread switching from gas to oil for heating purposes, saying it will average 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in October 2022 to March 2023, about twice the level of a year ago.
Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery rose $1.17 or about 1.3 percent to settle at $88.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery gained $0.71 or about 0.76 percent to settle at $93.88 (provisional) a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.