08:41 AM EDT, 10/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices rose early Wednesday after a report showed a drop in U.S. oil inventories last week, countering worries over an over-supplied market, while India again promised the U.S. Administration it will end purchases of Russian oil.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for December delivery was last seen up US$1.13 to $58.37 per barrel, while December Brent oil was up $1.12 to $62.44.

The rise comes as the American Petroleum Institute's weekly survey said U.S. oil inventories fell by 2.98-million barrels last week following two weeks of rising stocks. The Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later on Wednesday morning.

The inventory gain counters concerns the market is oversupplied, following the return of 2.2-million barrels per day of OPEC+ production cuts amid rising output from Western Hemisphere producers.

Prices also gained support following reports Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told U.S. President Donald Trump the country will begin moving away from purchasing low-cost Russian oil as he looks to cut the 50% tariff on its exports to the United States, making the country compete for non-sanctioned supplies from the Middle East and elsewhere.

"Trump reiterated that India would scale back purchases of Russian energy. Traders are also beginning to question the prevailing supply-glut narrative, as movements in the Brent and WTI forward curves remain far from levels that would typically reflect such an imbalance," Saxo Bank noted.