NEW YORK, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices increased on Wednesday, as investors' concerns over global supply offset an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose sharply by 5.4 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

For the week ending May 10, the inventories reached 472 million barrels, about 2 percent above the five year average for this time of year.

Yet global investors remain fairly worried about the drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's two oil pipeline booster stations, which were confirmed by the world's leading oil supplier on Tuesday.

Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih condemned the attacks as "an act of terrorism" that targeted global oil supplies and aimed to destabilize the international energy supply.

The 1,200-kilometer East-West pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia's main eastern oil fields to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu in the west.

The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery was up 0.24 U.S. dollar to settle at 62.02 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery increased 0.53 dollar to close at 71.77 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)