Crude Oil Prices Show Another Strong Move To The Upside

(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices showed another notable move to the upside during trading on Wednesday, extending the spike seen in the previous session.

After soaring $2.99 or 3.8 percent to $81.22 a barrel on Tuesday, crude for February delivery jumped $1.42 or 1.7 percent to $82.64 a barrel.

Oil prices continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for energy demand amid indications of tight near-term supply.

The increase in the price of crude oil also came after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell by more than expected in the week ended January 7th.

The report showed crude oil inventories tumbled by 4.6 million barrels versus estimates for a decrease of about 1.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, the report showed gasoline inventories jumped by 8.0 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels.