Oil prices rise as supplies add lower-than-expected

New York, Nov 19 (IANS) Oil prices gained on Wednesday as US stockpiles added less-than-expected.

US crude supplies of last week gained 0.3 million barrels to 487.3 million barrels, below market’s expectation, 106.2 million barrels more than one year before, according to EIA’s Wednesday weekly report.

Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the US contract added 1.5 million barrels to 56.85 million barrels.

US crude production added 3,000 to 9.182 million barrels a day last week, according to EIA’s report.

EIA forecast in a recent report that Brent crude oil prices will average $54 per barrel in 2015 and $56 in 2016.

Forecast West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices average $4 lower than the Brent price in 2015 and $5 lower in 2016.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved up 8 cents to settle at $40.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased 57 cents to close at $44.14 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.