25.08.202119:19:00UTC+00Oil Futures Extend Gains To 3rd Day As Inventories Drop

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third straight day, after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and fuel demand rose to the highest level since March 2020.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $0.82 or about 1.2% at $68.36 a barrel.

According to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude inventories in the U.S. fell by 3 million barrels in the week ended August 21.

The data also showed gasoline stockpiles dropped by 2.2 million barrels last week, and stockpiles rose by 600,000 barrels.

The EIA data also showed the four-week average of fuel supply in the U.S. climbed to almost 21 million barrels per day, the highest level since March 2020.

The American Petroleum Institute's latest crude oil inventory data released on Tuesday showed a draw of 1.622 million barrels for the week ending August 20.

The data also said gaoline stockpiles dropped by about 1 million barrels last week.