WTI and Brent Crude Advance Wednesday on News of Drop in U.S. Crude Supplies

 

Oil prices finished at their highest level in nearly two months, buoyed by government data revealing a fourth straight week of domestic crude inventory declines, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September West Texas Intermediate crude rose 86 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $48.75 a barrel.

September Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbed 77 cents, or 1.5%, to end trading at $50.97 on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that domestic crude supplies fell by 7.2 million barrels for the week ending July 21, beating the forecast for a decline of 2.5 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute reported a larger weekly fall of 10.2 million barrels late Tuesday.

Meanwhile, August natural gas shed 2 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $2.924 per million British thermal units.