The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery added 14 cents to settle at 70.87 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery increased 18 cents to close at 73.88 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 4.6 million barrels during the week ending Dec. 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday. On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had expected a decrease of 1.7 million barrels.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 0.7 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.9 million barrels.
Traders continued to digest a bearish report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"A surge in new Covid cases is expected to slow the recovery in global oil demand, with air travel and jet fuel most affected," the IEA said Tuesday in its closely-watched monthly report.
The Paris-based energy watchdog trimmed its demand forecast by around 100,000 barrels a day for both 2021 and 2022, as compared with its previous projections.
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