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NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices posted solid gains Wednesday, with U.S. oil hitting 15-month highs, as official data showed a surprisingly large weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories dropped by 5.2 million barrels to a total of 468.7 barrels in the week through Oct. 14.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the EIA to report a crude build of 2.7 million barrels.
Oil prices also got an added boost after an official from Saudi Arabia said oil producers who are not members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have shown willingness to join the cartel's effort to limit output, according to media reports.
The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery added 1.31 U.S. dollars to settle at 51.60 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery increased 0.99 dollar to close at 52.67 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
