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Crude oil futures rise after US stockpiles fall

Brent crude was trading up at 13 cents, while US WTI rose seven cents to $44.72 a barrel

A worker walks past a pump jack on an oil field in Russia  Reuters

A worker walks past a pump jack on an oil field in Russia <b> Reuters <b>

Reuters Tokyo
Oil futures rose in early Asian trading on Wednesday after an industry group released weekly figures showing US stockpiles fell more than expected last week.

Brent crude was up 13 cents at $46.79 a barrel at 0017 GMT. On Tuesday, the contract settled down 30 cents, or 0.6%, at $46.66 barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 7 cents to $44.72 a barrel. It fell 59 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $44.65 in the previous session.

U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, trade group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported. That was just above a 2.1 million-barrels draw forecast in a Reuters poll.
 
For distillate inventories including diesel, API reported a surprise draw of 484,000 barrels. It also said there was an unexpected gasoline build of 805,000 barrels.

The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue inventory data later on Wednesday.

If the EIA confirms a drawdown, it will be the ninth straight week that U.S. crude stockpiles have fallen.

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First Published: Jul 20 2016 | 7:40 AM IST

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