Crude prices rose 56 cents to $94.73 per barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to The Associated Press.
The nation’s crude oil supplies and gasoline supplies shrank last week, the government reported Wednesday.
Crude supplies fell by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.5 percent, to 363.8 million barrels, which is 0.4 percent below year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts expected a drop of 2 million barrels for the week ended June 17, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline supplies fell by 500,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 214.6 million barrels. That was 1.4 percent below year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to increase by 1 million barrels.
