Oil prices keep rising as US stockpiles fall

New York, June 9 (IANS) Oil prices rallied for a third straight session as official data showed a larger-than-expected drop in US crude stocks.

The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery on Wednesday increased $0.87 to settle at $50.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery gained $1.07 to close at $52.51 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, Xinhua news agency reported.

US crude supplies of last week lost 3.2 million barrels to 532.5 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s weekly report released on Wednesday.

Crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for US oil futures and the country's biggest oil-storage hub, declined by 1.36 million barrels.

Oil prices have surged over 90 percent from a multi-year low in February on a weaker US dollar, a continued slide in the US output and unexpected disruptions.