Oil consolidates gains after US inventories data

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, after a drop in the US crude inventories, while the US dollar pared its early gains.

The Energy Information Administration reported today that the US crude inventories fell 4.1 million barrels to 433.5 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecasts a drop by 2.5 million barrels.

While the American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday in preliminary data that the US crude inventories fell 4.7 million barrels during the same period.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.5 points as of 17:45 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.7 points and a low of 92.4 points.

As of 17:45 GMT, WTI crude September futures rose 0.9% to $72.3 a barrel.

Brent September futures rose 0.4% to $74.8 a barrel.