New York — Oil prices jumped nearly 3% on Wednesday as plunging US crude stockpiles compounded supply concerns due to uncertainty over Libyan exports, a production disruption in Canada, and US demands that importers stop buying Iranian crude from November. US crude stocks fell by nearly 10-million barrels last week, the most since September 2016, while petrol and distillate inventories rose less than expected, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. US crude futures rose $1.74 to $72.27 a barrel by 2.43pm GMT, after hitting a session high of $72.61 a barrel. Brent crude rose $1.51 to $77.82 a barrel. The spread between the two narrowed as the EIA said US crude exports soared to a record 3-million barrels per day (bpd). Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for the NYMEX futures contract fell by 2.7 million barrels, the EIA said. "Cushing is a whopper," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho, referring to the drawdown. The report reflects only o...
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