Oil rose above $68.30 a barrel of Brent crude for the first time in more than four months after the biggest withdrawal of crude in U.S. storage tanks since July signaled tightening supplies.
Futures advanced as much as 1.7 percent on Wednesday after the US government reported a 9.59 million-barrel decline in American oil stockpiles.
The magnitude of the draw down confounded all 10 forecasts from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
U.S. crude exports jumped while domestic inventories of gasoline and diesel shrank.
“Exports continue to be pretty strong,” said Brian Kessens, portfolio manager and managing director at Tortoise Capital Advisors LLC in Leawood, Kansas.
“There was some doubt about how much the U.S. could actually export from an infrastructure perspective and now that we’re consistently above 3 million barrels a day I think there’s a lot of confidence that that number can be sustained.”
Oil has gained more than 30 percent to start the year, supported by output cuts by OPEC and partners, in addition to supply disruptions in Iran and Venezuela. Rallies have been capped by ongoing fears over the course of U.S.-China trade negotiations.
West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery rose 99 cents to $60.02 a barrel at 12:02 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for May delivery added 88 cents to $68.49 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Historically, crude stockpiles accumulate in the world’s biggest economy at this time of year as refiners perform maintenance and transition from producing winter to summer-blend gasoline.
“This is a counter-seasonal draw, which basically puts an exclamation point on the back end of it,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA in New York.
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