Crude-oil futures reversed early losses Wednesday morning after government data showed crude stockpiles dropped by more than expected.
But traders said gains in petroleum products stocks tempered the strong signals from the crude-oil data.
Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 50 cents at $71.43 a barrel, after hitting a high of $71.73 a barrel after the 10:30 a.m. Eastern data release.
U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude-oil stocks fell 4.7 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11. That was nearly twice the level expected by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who expected a decline of 2.5 million barrels. It also ran counter to data released Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute, which showed a 631,000-barrel rise in crude stocks in the week.
Still, the EIA reported distillate stocks rose by 2.2 million barrels, which was more than the 1.4 million barrel gain that was forecast, but less than the huge 5.2 million barrel rise reported by the API. Gasoline stocks rose by 500,000 barrels, near expectations.
