Oil prices continued to gain on Wednesday, as data showed a smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. crude inventories, as well as supply disruptions in Libya and views that an output reduction led by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is likely to be extended.
Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude stocks rose last week, but refineries hiked output, causing gasoline stocks and distillate inventories to decline.
Crude inventories rose by 867,000 barrels in the week ending March 24, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 1.4 million barrels.
EIA also showed gasoline stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels, versus projections in an economist poll for a 1.9-million-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.5 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.2-million-barrel drop.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 68 cents, or 1.4%, at $49.05 U.S. a barrel.
Meantime, oil production from the western Libyan fields of Sharara and Wafa has been blocked by armed protesters, reducing output by some 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) and prompting the National Oil Corp to declare force majeure on Tuesday.
The Iranian oil minister said on Tuesday that the agreement between OPEC and other producers led by Russia to cut output by 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017 was likely to be extended.
