US oil soars 4.9 pct, closes at $38.29 a barrel

U.S. oil prices jumped nearly 5 percent on Wednesday after a huge draw in U.S. gasoline inventories last week convinced the market that energy demand was improving despite U.S. crude stockpiles hitting record highs for a fourth week.

Crude prices also gained support on speculation that top oil producers might agree soon to an output freeze.

U.S. crude futures settled $1.79 higher, or 4.9 percent, at $38.29 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose $1.29 to $40.94 a barrel, having touched three-month highs on Tuesday above $41.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles rose 3.9 million barrels to nearly 522 million barrels, as predicted by analysts in a Reuters poll.

I am really happy that its going to go up. Frankly, a ton of my friends are about to be fired because of the low oil prices causing there companies to re-examine their finances for the long term.


Sad that the first thing companies cut back on are employees.

Lots of jobs have been cut, or hanging in the balance because of the drastic reduction in oil prices. The workers in the industry would love to see a considerable increase in the price of the commodity. The consumers, on the other hand, would love prices to remain at the current level or even go lower. Let's see which of these groups will be favoured in near future.