Crude oil prices surged around four percent on Wednesday on supply concerns following a draw of 3 million barrels in the US crude inventories.
As of 1345 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $4.03 (+3.66 percent) to reach 114.26 a barrel. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, jumped to $108.31 a barrel, up by $4.07 (+3.90 percent).
The price for Opec basket was recorded at $113.39 a barrel with a decrease of 2.24 percent. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of Saharan Blend, Girassol, Djeno, Zafiro, Rabi Light, Iran Heavy, Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider, Bonny Light, Arab Light, Murban and Merey.
Arab Light was available at $111.27 a barrel with an increase of 0.51 percent and the price of Russian Sokol inched up to $98.20 a barrel with a 0.57 percent increase.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that there was a draw this week for crude oil of three million barrels, compared to analyst predictions of a 1.558 million barrel draw.