Oil prices in New York have rallied after a surprisingly big drop in US crude inventories, even as higher output from Libya pressured the main London oil contract.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose $US1.24 to close at $US92.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
European benchmark Brent oil for November delivery added 10 cents to $US96.95 a barrel in London trade after hitting a two-year low earlier in the session.
The Department of Energy said US crude reserves sank by 4.3 million barrels in the week ending September 19, a much bigger decline than the 500,000 drop projected by analysts in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
The DOE report also showed that gasoline stockpiles decreased by 414,000 barrels, more than double the decline forecast.
"Inventories came out more bullish than a lot of the speculation," said Oliver Sloup of iiTrader.
Brent oil sank to a new two-year low earlier in the day of $US95.60, buffeted by the "combo of weaker global demand fears and signs of stronger supply," according to Matt Smith, analyst at Schneider Electric.
The European contract was hit by reports that Libya had restored output at its Sharara oilfield, the country's largest, and by a drop in Germany's Ifo business confidence indicator to 104.7 in September, the lowest level since April 2013.
But Brent picked up ground later in the session and rallied into positive territory in the final half-hour or so of trade on unconfirmed rumours of bombing in eastern Libya. The Libya rumours also lifted WTI's gains late in the session.
Share
