Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Thursday as data showed a significant drop in distillate inventories in the US in the week ended October 7th. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that distillate stockpiles fell by 4.9 million barrels to 106.1 million barrels last week versus expectations for a 2 million-barrel drop. However, EIA showed crude inventories in the US rose by 9.9 million barrels last week. Meanwhile, gasoline stocks were up by 2 million barrels last week, compared to expectations for a 1.8 million barrel drop.
Benchmark crude oil futures for November delivery rose $1.84 or 2.1 percent at $89.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery gained $2.30 or about 2.5 percent to settle at $94.75 (Provisional) a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.