08:55 AM EDT, 03/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices rose early on Wednesday after a report showed an unexpected drop in US oil inventories.

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was last seen up US$1.48 to US$79.04 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up US$1.42 to US$83.34.

The rise comes as the American Petroleum Institute's weekly survey showed US oil inventories fell by 5.5-million barrels last week, while the consensus estimate expected a rise of 0.42-million barrels, according to Investing.com. Gasoline and distillate inventories were also lower. The Energy Information Administration will release official data later on Wednesday morning.

Prices have continued to trade in a narrow range, with West Texas Intermediate swinging in a US$10 range for most of this year as OPEC+'s 2.2-million barrels per day of voluntary cuts are balance by rising production outside of the cartel and demand from China, the No.1 importer, remains weak as growth there slows.

"Without OPEC+ supporting prices through supply cutbacks - which on paper total roughly 2 million barrels per day - Brent crude would most likely have traded in the low USD 70's or perhaps even lower. So, while the efforts have not yielded higher prices many of the producers need to balance their budgets, prices have held steady and high enough to ensure robust production growth from non-OPEC+ members. Not least the US which according to EIA's latest Short-term Energy Outlook could see production accelerate to a record 13.65m barrels/day in 2025 from 13.19m barrels/day this year," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, noted.