WTI crude oil prices continue to climb higher into Wednesday on the back of a stronger than expected decline in US crude inventories over the past week on account of the two hurricanes hurting supply even as demand picks up across the nation. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $71.49 per barrel.

Crude oil prices reversed their bearish mood from the beginning of this week when a risk-off sentiment in global markets over the looming Evergrande debt issue kept investors wary of buying into the commodity. The reversal in the sentiment was propelled by rising concerns about oil supply in the wake of the recent hurricanes hitting the US and impacting oil production for an extended period of time.

WTI oil received another boost following the release of the API report in the previous session which revealed a drop in US crude stockpiles by 6.1 million barrels over the past week. The drawdown was higher than the drop by 2.4 million barrels which was forecast by economists and raised hopes that oil demand was picking up at a faster pace across the world’s largest energy consumer. Meanwhile, crude oil is likely to enjoy support on the supply side as well after the largest US Gulf of Mexico producer – Royal Dutch Shell, stated that its production could be impacted until early 2022 due to the damage caused by the hurricanes.

Later today, the focus shifts to the release of the official EIA inventories’ data which can offer a more accurate insight into oil demand in the US. A drawdown of more than 2.4 million barrels in crude inventories can drive further bullishness in crude oil in the current session.