Oil prices rise after a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude stock

(Reuters) – Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as industry data showed a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 67 cents, or 0.7%, to $95.65 a barrel by 0009 GMT.

Brent crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.3%, to $104.73 a barrel.

After settlement on Tuesday, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said crude stocks in the United States fell by 4 million barrels last week.

That is four times the 1 million barrel decline expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels compared with expectations of a build of 3.5 million barrels, the API data showed.