NEW YORK, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rallied on Wednesday after newly-released data showed that U.S. crude stockpiles dropped more than expected.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased during the week ending July 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 9.5 million barrels from the previous week to 459.0 million barrels. Analysts at IHS Markit had expected a weekly drop of 2.1 million barrels.
Oil prices were also supported by the news that a tropical cyclone is likely later this week in the Gulf of Mexico, which raised concerns over potential disruptions to oil and natural gas production in the region.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery climbed 2.6 U.S. dollars to settle at 60.43 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery gained 2.85 dollars to close at 67.01 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
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