By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected last week just as supply disruptions have provided a respite somewhat from concerns about Omicron-led supply and demand imbalances.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $76.13 barrel on the news, after settling up 0.54% at $75.98 a barrel.
Oil prices ended the day higher as traders weighed production disruptions across Ecuador, Libya and Nigeria, Reuters reported, citing commentary from UBS.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels for the week ended Dec.24. That compared with a draw of 3.7 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a draw of about 3.2 million barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 319,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks decreased by 716,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies fell by about 3.2 million barrels last week.