Crude oil prices rise 3%, breach $97 a barrel on US stockpile concern
Oil prices surged 3 per cent to the highest settlement in 2023, after a steep drop in US crude stocks compounded worries of tight global supplies.
Brent crude futures closed up $2.59, or 2.8 per cent, at $96.55. It breached $97 a barrel during the session.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed $3.29, or 3.6 per cent, to $93.68. The session high was over $94.
US crude stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels last week to 416.3 million barrels, government data showed, far exceeding the 320,000-barrel drop analysts expected in a Reuters poll.
