Oil rose more than $2 a barrel today after a US government report showed a surprise draw in commercial distillate stockpiles and equities markets rallied.
US light crude for May delivery rose $2.04 a barrel to $51.19 by 4.46pm. London Brent crude rose $2.33 to $53.55.
The US government's Department of Energy (DoE) said today that US crude oil inventories jumped 1.6 million barrels at the end of last week.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a larger gain of 1.9 million barrels, which would have indicated even weaker energy demand.
However, crude oil stocks in the US remain at their highest level since 1993.
Oil prices had dipped sharply yesterday, falling below $50 a barrel in New York as the market worried about tumbling stock markets and weak demand amid mounting signs of a deepening global economic downturn. New York crude wiped out $1.90 and London Brent oil erased $1.02.
