Investing.com -- U.S. oil stockpiles declined last week, confounding expectations, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Crude inventory fell by 4.4 million barrels last week after a 2 million-barrel increase the week before. Analysts tracked by Investing.com had expected a build of 1.27 million barrels for the week.
Hurricane Sally bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday but was not expected to cause major damage to drilling and refinery operations, though a quarter of production in the region is shut down.
Oil stored at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 74,000 barrels after a build of 1.8 million barrels the prior week.
Oil prices jumped around 3% Wednesday morning ahead of the EIA's report after an industry estimate on Tuesday showed a surprising 9.5 million-barrel draw from inventory.