The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery added 2.28 U.S. dollars, or 2.4 percent, to settle at 97.26 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery increased 2.22 dollars, or 2.1 percent, to close at 106.62 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that the nation's crude oil inventories decreased by 4.5 million barrels during the week ending July 22. Analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights had expected a fall of 0.8 million barrels in U.S. crude stocks.
The EIA publication also showed that total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 3.3 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 0.8 million barrels. The declines were both larger than anticipated.
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