HOUSTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices jumped over 2 percent Wednesday morning after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a more than expected draw of crude oil inventories in the last week.
EIA reported a large draw of 5.8 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 17, while the market expected a draw of only 1.5 million barrels.
Around one hour after the report was released, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) October delivery traded at 67.40 U.S. dollars at New York Mercantile Exchange, up 1.56 dollars or 2.37 percent from its Tuesday settlement. While Brent October delivery traded at 74.36 dollars at ICE Futures Exchange, up 1.73 dollars or 2.38 percent from its Tuesday settlement.
According to EIA, the inventories of gasoline and distillates increased by 1.2 million barrels and 1.8 million barrels, respectively, for the week. Obviously, the market focused on the large crude oil draw and higher crude oil input to the refineries compared with the previous year's levels rather than on builds in oil products.
