The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery added 3.10 U.S. dollars, or 4.6 percent, to settle at 70.30 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery increased 2.88 dollars, or nearly 4.2 percent, to close at 72.23 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels during the week ending July 16, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had estimated the EIA publications to show a fall of 6.7 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies.
The EIA report also showed crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, a key U.S. oil hub, dropped by 1.4 million barrels in the latest week.
Meanwhile, total motor gasoline inventories fell 0.1 million barrels last week and distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.3 percent, according to the EIA.
Market participants continued to digest major oil producers' agreement on output.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to boost supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August through December.
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