Oil Price Hits $59 on Wednesday, following a fall in U.S. crude inventories and concerns that tensions in the Middle East could disrupt supplies. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at 58.27 dollars at 0131 GMT, up 39 cents, or 0.7 per cent from their last close – and a third above mid-year levels.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 52.08 dollars per barrel, up 20 cents, or 0.4 per cent and almost a quarter above mid-June levels. Traders said that prices were pushed up by a drop in U.S. crude inventories as well as concerns that fighting in Iraq and mounting tensions between the United States and Iran could affect supplies.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 7.1 million barrels in the week to Oct. 13 to 461.4 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said late on Tuesday. Official U.S. fuel inventory data is due to be published later on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration.

Source: http://emmanuel17.com/2017/10/oil-price-hits-59/