Oil Extends Gains As EIA Reports a Second-straight Weekly Drop In U.S. Crude Supplies

Oil prices extended their earlier gains Wednesday after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that domestic crude supplies dropped 7.6 million barrels for the week ended July 7. That topped a forecast for a decline of 2.6 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts, but came in a bit less than the decline of 8.1 barrels reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday. Gasoline stockpiles also fell by 1.6 million barrels, but distillate stockpiles climbed by 3.1 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. August crude rose $1.29, or 2.9%, to $46.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $46.17 before the supply data.