Stockpiles fell 3.87 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 14, the 10th drop in 11 weeks, yesterday's report showed. A dip of 2.03 million barrels was expected, according to the median estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg before the report.
``The drop in inventories was larger than most analysts were expecting, continuing the pattern we've seen recently of fairly hefty draws,'' said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. ``That's not unusual for the time of year but when you've got a market where people are worried about whether there'll be adequate supplies over the Northern winter, then it's still having an unsettling effect.''
Crude oil for October delivery was at $81.84 a barrel, down 9 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 6:24 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract, which expires at today's close, rose 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $81.93, after touching $82.51 earlier in the session, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983. Prices are up 35 percent from a year ago.
The November contract was at $80.56 a barrel, down 29 cents, in after-hours trading at the same time. Yesterday it rose 62 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $80.85.
Oil in New York has touched records for six straight days because of concern that supply won't keep up with growing demand. Prices rose Sept. 18 after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, more than economists had predicted. The central bank is trying to help sustain economic growth in the U.S.
U.S. crude-oil inventories in the week ended Sept. 14 were 7.4 percent higher than the five-year average for the period, the department said.
Brent crude oil for November settlement yesterday rose 88 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $78.47 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was the highest close since the contract began in 1989.
