Oil prices continued their gains for the fourth session Wednesday, supported by data for the oil sector showed a sudden drop in US crude stocks.
By 06:48 GMT, the WTI rose 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $ 72.17 a barrel, up 14 cents at the settlement.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> was up 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $ 81.67 a barrel, up 63 cents at the previous session.
The global benchmark, which hit its lowest level in more than two weeks late last week as equity markets plummeted, fell about five dollars from a four-year high of $ 86.74 recorded on Oct. 3.
US Oil Inventories published after the settlement showed Tuesday that US oil inventories fell 2.1 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a 2.2 million barrel increase.
