Oil futures jumped closer to $50 a barrel on Wednesday, marking their greatest settlement since October, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
July West Texas Intermediate crude rose 94 cents, or 1.9%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange to end trading at $49.56 a barrel.
On London’s ICE Futures Exchange, July Brent crude, the global benchmark, tacked on $1.13, or 2.3%, to settle at $49.74 a barrel.
The highly anticipated U.S. Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday confirmed a supply decline of 4.2 million barrels for the week ending May 20. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a reduction of 5.1 million barrels. Both reports posted greater-than-expected draws from inventory supplies, bolstering oil future prices on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, June natural gas increased by 1.2 cents, or 0.6%, to end trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $1.992 per million British thermal units. The June natural gas contract expires Thursday.