Oil jumps 4% as U.S. supply falls sharply
Oil prices jumped on Wednesday after President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in a tight U.S. election with millions of votes still to be counted and after data showed a large decline in U.S. crude inventories.
A victory by Trump is viewed as bullish for oil because of sanctions on Iran and his support for Saudi-led oil production cuts to support prices.
A contested result and prolonged uncertainty is seen as the most bearish outcome for oil and markets in general, while a win for Joe Biden would be seen as bearish to neutral because of his support for green policies and softer stance on Iran.
West Texas Intermediate settled 4%, or $1.49, higher at $39.15 per barrel. Brent crude was up by 92 cents, or 2.3%, at $40.63 a barrel.
Both benchmarks extended gains to session highs after data showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 8 million barrels last week as Hurricane Zeta forced production declines in the Gulf of Mexico during the period.
U.S. weekly crude oil exports fell by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to about 2.3 million bpd last week, the biggest drop since January, as Zeta disrupted flows.
Reference: CNBC
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