The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery gained 55 cents to settle at 39.82 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery advanced 76 cents to close at 42.03 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 7.2 million barrels during the week ending June 26, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. That followed three consecutive weeks of increases. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had forecast an average crude supply decline of 2.7 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures gained nearly 92 percent in the second quarter and Brent climbed about 81 percent, according to Dow Jones Market Data. However, both benchmarks were still down significantly year to date.
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