Oil Prices See Further Upside Amid Drop In Inventories

(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices moved to the upside during trading on Wednesday, extending the advance seen over the past several sessions.

After rising $0.41 or 0.5 percent to $75.98 a barrel in the previous session, crude oil for February delivery climbed $0.58 or 0.8 percent to $76.56 a barrel.

The continued increase in oil prices came after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell by more than expected last week.

The report showed crude oil inventories slid by 3.6 million barrels in the week ended December 24, exceeding economist estimates for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories also fell by 1.5 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories declined by 1.7 million barrels.

A separate report released by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showed crude oil inventories decreased by 3.1 million barrels last week.

Oil prices also continued to benefit from easing concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

While the Omicron variant has contributed to a surge in new coronavirus cases around the world, traders seem optimistic that the milder symptoms associated with the new strain will not lead to a significant economic slowdown.