NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices climbed on Wednesday after newly-released data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose 0.72 U.S. dollar to settle at 62.12 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery was up 0.49 dollar to close at 70.37 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased during the week ending May 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 4.0 million barrels from the previous week.
At 466.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were at the five-year average for this time of year.
Oil prices were also boosted by the recent geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, however, the gains were somewhat capped by worries about the global outlook for energy demand.
