Oil bounces 1% on US crude stocks draw, EIA data eyed

Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic broke higher on Wednesday, following a brief consolidative phase seen yesterday.

Oil awaits EIA inventory data

Currently, both crude benchmarks bounce-back, with Brent up +0.85% at $ 51.30, while WTI rises +1% to $ 49.15. Oil extends its bullish momentum into a sixth-day today, with the latest leg higher driven by a shockingly high crude stocks draw, as reflected by the API report. The API report showed that the US crude inventories dropped by 7.6 million barrels last week, against predictions of increase by 1.5 barrels, marking five straight weekly draws. 

However, further gains remain capped on reports that the OPEC crude output rose to a record high last month, driven by returning output from Libya and Nigeria, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Later today, the official US government crude inventory report will be published by the EIA, which will have a strong bearing on the oil markets.