Mubasher: Oil prices rose by the end of Wednesday’s trade, supported by the decline in American gasoline stockpiles, despite the rise in crude inventories.

Nymex futures rose by around 0.4%, or $0.25, to settle near $60.96 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures rose by 0.3% to 64.86 per barrel.

US crude oil stockpiles expanded by more than expected during the week ended 9 March, as shown by the data of the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Inventories grew by 5 million barrels to 430.9 million barrels, standing in the lower half of the average range for this time of the year.

Economists had expected an increase of around 2.2 million barrels last week.