Crude Oil Moves Back To The Upside As Inventories Fall Sharply

(RTTNews) - Following the steep drop seen in the previous session, the price of crude oil has moved back to the upside during trading on Wednesday.

Crude for December has given back some ground after reaching a high above $61 a barrel but was last seen trading at $60.46 a barrel, up $0.31 or 0.5 percent.

The increase comes after crude oil fell for three consecutive sessions, including the 1.9 percent plunge seen during Tuesday's trading.

Oil prices have benefitted from the release of a report from the Energy Information Administration showing a steep drop by U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended October 24th.

The EIA said crude oil inventories plunged by 6.9 million barrels last week after dipping by 1.0 million barrels in the previous week.

At 416.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

The report also showed a notable decrease by gasoline inventories, which tumbled by 5.9 million barrels last week and are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also slumped by 3.4 million barrels last week and are about 8 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

Traders also remain optimistic about a U.S.-China trade deal ahead of Thursday's meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, although lingering demand concerns have limited the upside.