Crude oil futures rebounded on Wednesday after government data revealed the biggest weekly decline in domestic crude supplies so far this year, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.45, or 3.2%, to settle at $47.33 a barrel.
July Brent crude, the global benchmark, added $1.49, or 3.1% to end trading at $50.22 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange—climbing above $50 a barrel for the first time in a week.
Early Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies dropped by 5.2 million barrels for the week ending May 5. That was larger than the fall of 1.8 million barrels forecast by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute reported a 5.8 million-barrel drop late Tuesday.
The data come ahead of a much-anticipated meeting of major oil producers on May 25. The general consensus is that OPEC will extend the current production cut into the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, June natural gas added 2% to $3.292 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
