Oil climbs to highest in over two years as U.S. supplies tighten | Reuters

Oil climbs to highest in over two years as U.S. supplies tighten | Reuters

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent climbing above $76 a barrel to its highest since late 2018, after data showed U.S. crude inventories declined as travel picks up.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 7.6 million barrels last week to 459.1 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, a much steeper drawdown than the 3.9 million barrels that analysts had expected in a Reuters poll.

Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, fell by 1.8 million barrels to the lowest since March 2020. Gasoline demand also edged higher last week.

"People are getting back in their cars again and that's showing up in the numbers in a big way. That's going to keep the upward pressure on prices," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Brent crude rose 38 cents, or 0.5%, to end the session at $75.19 a barrel.Its session high, $76.02 after the EIA data, was the highest since October 2018. U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 23 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $73.08 after hitting $74.25, also the highest since October 2018.