Crude oil prices hit a seven-week high in Wednesday’s trading, thanks largely to a surprise drop in U.S. weekly crude inventories. At the same time, Oklahoma energy stocks had another strong day in trading with one firm seeing a 24% gain for the day.
The drop of inventories only added to a sense in the market of tightening supplies amidst export issues in Iraq, Venezuela and Russia, reported Reuters.
Brent futures rose $1.68, or 2.5%, to settle at $69.31 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.58, or 2.5%, to settle at $64.99.
That was the highest close for Brent since August 1 and WTI since September 2. The peak in prices came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a decline of U.S. crude inventories of 607,000 barrels last week.
Wednesday was another positive day for Oklahoma energy stocks as nearly all recorded gains including a more than 24% boost for Stardust Power Inc. and a more than 7% jump for Vital Energy.