Oil Prices Extend Gains As EIA Reports Larger-than-expected Drop In U.S. Crude Supplies

Oil prices extended earlier gains Wednesday after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that domestic crude supplies dropped by 5.2 million barrels for the week ended May 5. That was below the 5.8 million-barrel drop reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, according to sources, but above the fall of 1.8 million barrels forecast by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Gasoline stockpiles declined by 200,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles were down 1.6 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey had forecast modest declines for both products. June crude rose $1.04, or 2.2%, to $46.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $46.61 before the supply data.

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