U.S. oil prices rose after falling inventories

U.S. oil prices rose after falling inventories

U.S. oil prices rose on Wednesday (Thursday morning GMT ) , after U.S. crude inventories fell surprisingly , despite concerns about oversupply Middle East oil pressing down the European benchmark .

The benchmark U.S. light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in January rose 1.16 dollars to close at 97.20 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange .

But the European benchmark , Brent crude for January delivery lost 74 cents to end at U.S. $ 111.88 per barrel in London trade .

U.S. oil price increase came after the weekly Energy Department report showed U.S. crude stocks fell 5.6 million barrels to 385.8 million barrels , for the first time in 11 weeks. A Dow Jones Newswires survey had projected no change .

The inventory report " a little wake call " for oil market traders , said John Kilduff , founding partner of Again Capital .

The big draw in U.S. oil stocks followed a 2.3 percent rise in U.S. oil prices on Tuesday ( 3/12 ) after news that the portion of the Keystone pipeline will be opened for delivery in January . Keystone news raised hopes that more oil will be moving from storage to refineries on the Gulf Coast .

U.S. oil stockpiles rose more than 10 percent from mid-September to late November , a trend that ultimately pushed oil prices below 100 dollars per barrel from 21 October.

Brent oil price decline on Wednesday came after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) agreed , broadly in line with what was expected , to maintain its production ceiling unchanged at a meeting in Vienna .

OPEC decided to maintain production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day . The next meeting will be convened in Vienna on June 11, 2014 .

OPEC conference said the biggest challenge facing the world oil market in 2014 is the global economic uncertainty , the fragility of the euro zone remains a concern .

Oil cartel also noted that , although world oil demand is expected to increase during 2014 , it will be more than offset by the projected increase in non - OPEC supply .

However , traders said the appointment of Iran and Iraq to quickly increase production in 2014, bringing the possibility of a potential oversupply of crude oil , especially if Libyan oil production back to full strength , and the U.S. increased U.S. production at the expected level .

Brent market is more related to the international oil shipping market than WTI .

OPEC ' maintains its quota , but obviously they will have a problem on their hands next year , "said Kilduff . AFP and Xinhua reports .