Oil extends gains, Brent rises near $76 after US inventories data

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, after a drop in the US crude inventories, while the US dollar held against its peers.

The Energy Information Administration reported today that the US crude inventories fell 3.5 million barrels to 414 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 3.8 million barrels.

While the American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday in preliminary data that the US crude inventories fell 6.1 million barrels during the same period.

The dollar index held against a basket of currencies at 93.2 points as of 17:44 GMT, after it hit a high of 93.2 points and a low of 93.1 points.

As of 17:38 GMT, WTI crude October futures rose 2% to $71.8 a barrel..

Brent November futures rose 1.9% to $75.7 a barrel.