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19 Nov
Oil prices are still far from the peak of $147 a barrel seen in July 2008
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The price of crude oil has risen to $80 a barrel after figures showed a sharp fall in US stockpiles last week.
The data came from the American Petroleum Institute, which said US oil stocks fell by 4.4 million barrels instead of the expected 1.2 million.
It said the falls came after storms in the Gulf of Mexico disrupted supplies.
US light crude was up 90 cents to $80.04 a barrel in Wednesday trading, while London's Brent had climbed by 94 cents to $79.91.
Oil investors are now waiting for the latest official US stocks data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is due out later.
«If the EIA confirms the big drawdown, and I think they probably will, the market could move up sharply,» said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank.
Oil prices peaked at a record $147 a barrel in July last year, before falling to about $30 at the start of 2009 because of the impact of the global recession.
