Oil closes 2% higher as US inventories fall for sixth week

Oil prices extended gains today, Aug. 7, as US crude inventories fell for the sixth straight week.

Brent crude futures for October delivery rose 2.4%, or $1.85, to close at $78.33 a barrel.

WTI crude for September delivery gained 2.75%, or $2.03, to record $75.23 per barrel.

US Energy Information Administration data revealed that oil inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels, to 429.3 million barrels during the week ended Aug. 2, and were about 6% below the five-year average.

The weekly report showed that US crude production rose by about 100,000 barrels to 13.4 million barrels per day, while crude oil imports fell by 729,000 barrels to 6.2 million barrels per day, and exports fell by 1.3 million barrels to 3.6 million barrels per day.