Oil prices rise on drop in US crude inventories as investors focus on Ukraine peace push
Brent crude futures were up 56 cents, or 0.9%, to $66.35 a barrel by 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 66 cents, or 1.1%, to $63.01.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said energy firms pulled 6.0 million barrels of crude from inventories during the week ended August 15. ,
That was bigger than the draw of 1.8 million barrels forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll and the decline of 2.4 million barrels that market sources said the American Petroleum Institute trade group cited in its figures on Tuesday.
"We had a decent-sized crude drawdown. We saw a rebound in exports ... That and the strong refinery demand really makes this a bullish report," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital.
On Tuesday, crude prices fell more than 1% - with WTI closing at its lowest level since May 30 - on optimism that an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war seemed closer.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal.
"Not so sure about the peace deal - will have to see if something moves forward over the coming days ... It seems oil prices are thrown down one day, followed by a rebound the next," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.
Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
A day earlier, Trump said he was arranging a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents. Russia has not confirmed it will take part in talks with Zelenskiy.
"The likelihood of a quick resolution to the conflict with Russia now seems unlikely," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note on Wednesday.
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