Oil rises 2% on U.S. crude drawdown, weaker dollar | Reuters

Oil rises 2% on U.S. crude drawdown, weaker dollar | Reuters

Oil prices hit two-month highs on Wednesday on tight supply as crude inventories in the United States, the world's top consumer, fell to their lowest since 2018, and as the dollar weakened and worries eased about the Omicron coronavirus variant.

U.S. crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels last week to 413.3 million barrels, their lowest since October 2018, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll a 1.9 million-barrel drop. read more

"The crude draw was bigger than expected despite a material drop in refining activity," said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler, a data firm.

Brent crude futures settled up 95 cents, or 1.1%, at $84.67 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.42, or 1.8%, at $82.64.