The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported a decrease of 4.382 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending June 30.
Analysts expected a drop of 1.8 million barrels for this week.
The API reported a decline of 2.408 million barrels in the previous week.
Crude oil futures prices posted solid growth on Wednesday as investors continued to digest additional production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery picked up 2 U.S. dollars, or 2.87 percent, to settle at 71.79 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery gained 2 U.S. dollars, or 2.68 percent, to settle at 76.65 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would stay committed to maintaining the stability of global oil market.
Saudi Arabia would extend the 1-million-barrel/day voluntary production cut into August while Russia planned to cut oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day in August, official statements from the two countries said Monday.