Investing.com - Oil prices rose to the highest levels of the session in North American trade on Wednesday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a large drop in domestic crude and gasoline supplies.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude August contract was at $46.22 a barrel by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT), up $1.19, or around 2.6%. Prices were at around $46.15 prior to the release of the inventory data
Elsewhere, Brent oil for September delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London climbed $1.01 to $48.53 a barrel.
Crude prices posted sharp gains on Tuesday, with the commodity logging its second wining session in a row.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 7.6 million barrels in the week ended July 7.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock decline of around 2.9 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-drop of 8.1 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by almost 2.0 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 495.4 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be at the upper half of the average range for this time of year.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.2 million barrels.
For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported an increase of 3.1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, OPEC said on Wednesday its oil production jumped in June and forecast world demand for its crude will decline next year as rivals pump more, pointing to a market surplus in 2018 despite an OPEC-led output cut.
Giving its first 2018 forecasts in a monthly report, the cartel said the world will need 32.20 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from its members next year, down 60,000 bpd from this year.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for August added 0.9 cents to $1.542 a gallon, while August heating oil advanced 1.8 cents to $1.494 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for August delivery slipped 5.5 cents to $2.992 per million British thermal units.