Crude oil rose on Wednesday after the United States reported a reduction in production and gasoline stocks.
The light sweet crude (WTI) barrel rose 50 cents reaching $ 44.74 on August contract deals traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
In the London market, Brent North Sea crude for August rose 56 cents to $47.21.
The US Department of Energy said that production in that country had a decrease of 100,000 barrels per day to 9.25 million barrels.
Andy Lipow, from Lipow Oil Associates attributed this lower production to the Sandy Storm that lashed the Gulf of Mexico and forced to close some deposits. In addition, the season of maintenance of the petroleum installations of Alaska already started.
He also said that the market was influenced by the drop in gasoline stocks in the United States and the crisis in Venezuela, an OPEC member whose production is being tested by political and economic turmoil.