TOKYO: Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with US crude gaining 1 per cent after an inventory report showed US stockpiles fell more than expected, helping ease worries about economic growth from the Sino-US trade war.
Brent crude was up by 41 cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $59.92 a barrel by 0121 GMT (5.21am Wednesday in the UAE).
West Texas intermediate crude was up by 57 cents, or 1.0 per cent, at $55.50 a barrel.
US crude stockpiles fell sharply last week as imports dropped, plummeting by 11.1 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 2 million barrel draw, data from industry group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), showed.
The US government's weekly report is due to be released Wednesday morning. If official numbers confirm the API data, then it will be the biggest weekly decline in nine weeks.
"The mammoth crude inventory draw has, at least for the time being, put to rest those US recessionary doom-and-gloom fears that have been hanging over oil markets like a dark cloud," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at Valour Markets.
Still, concerns about global growth amid the raging trade war between the United States and China are likely to cap gains.
