Crude Inventory Drops; Prices Rise

WASHINGTON D.C. (TheStreet) -- Crude oil inventory decreased last week by 0.9 million barrels to 336.8 million barrels, according to an Energy Department weekly report, while the price of oil climbed higher yesterday and today following optimistic Street forecasts.

Continued weakness in the U.S. dollar has also helped to push oil prices up.

The crude news from the U.S. government echoed a report issued yesterday by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which indicated a worse-than-expected drop of 4.37 million barrels to 331.1 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 13. The market had projected a drop of only 2.2 million barrels previous to the API report; there had also been a forecasted drop of only 0.6 million barrels for the Energy Department numbers.

The numbers are a disappointment to those looking for stability in inventory.

Oil has been trading up most of the week on better forecasts from analysts. BNP Paribas(BNPQY Quote) raised its average price forecast for U.S. light crude oil futures to $81 per barrel from $78. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch(BAC Quote) raised its forecast last Friday to $85 from $75.