US crude oil futures jump on bearish weekly stockpiles data

US oil stockpiles registered an unexpected fall over the previous week, government data revealed, triggering a sharp jump in crude oil futures.

Inventories of commercial crude oil Stateside dropped by 3.4m barrels to 540.0m over the five days ending on 6 May according to the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy.

Imports were little changed, declining by just 5,000 per day from the previous week, while refineries were operating at 89.1% of their capacity.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.2m barrels and those for distillate fuels by another 1.6m barrels.

As of 17:08 BST front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were gaining 2.786% to $45.94 per barrel on the NYMEX.