Tokyo — Oil prices rose on Wednesday as industry data showed a larger than expected drawdown in US crude stockpiles, while expectations for an extended shutdown of a major North Sea crude pipeline also continued to bolster markets. Brent crude was up 64c or 1% at $63.98 a barrel by 4.13am GMT. It settled $1.35 or 2.1% lower on Tuesday on a wave of profit-taking after news of a key North Sea pipeline shutdown helped send the global benchmark above $65 for the first time since mid-2015. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 42c or 0.7% at $57.56 a barrel, having settled the previous session down 85c. Britain’s biggest pipeline from its North Sea oil and gas fields is likely to be shut for several weeks for repairs, its operator said on Tuesday. The pipeline, which carries about 450,000 barrels a day of Forties crude, was shut after cracks were found. It has particular significance to global markets because Forties is the largest out of the five crude oil streams that underpin the da...
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