Crude oil climbed after a report showed that U.S. stockpiles declined to an eight-month low as refineries unexpectedly increased operating rates.
Futures rose as much as much as 1.2% after the Energy Department said supplies fell 7.34 million barrels to 339 million last week. It left inventories at the lowest level since January and was the biggest drop since December. Refineries operated at 88.3% of capacity, up 1.3 percentage points from the prior week.
Crude oil for November delivery rose 98 cents, or 1.1%, to $87.90 U.S. a barrel at 11:01 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have increased 20% over the past year. Oil traded at $86.14 U.S. a barrel before release of the inventory report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.
Brent oil for November settlement rose $1.73, or 1.6%, to $112.27 U.S. a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The European benchmark’s premium to the West Texas Intermediate futures traded in New York widened to $24.37 from $23.62 U.S. at yesterday’s settlement.
