By Polya Lesova & Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures jumped 3% to trade near $73 a barrel on Wednesday, after a report that U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week.
Traders also awaited a statement from the Federal Reserve, which is expected to keep interest rates near zero and leave in place the massive amounts of money it injected into the system.
Crude oil for January delivery recently gained $2.16, or 3%, to $72.85 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. It earlier rose to an intraday high of $73.13 a barrel, its highest level since it topped $74 a barrel on Dec.7.
The Energy Information Administration reported crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels last week. Analysts polled by Platts expected a decline of 2 million barrels.
Fed decision ahead
U.S. stocks also rose on Wednesday, along with oil and other commodity prices, ahead of the statement from the Fed that's expected to signal no major changes in monetary policy. Read more on stocks.
The Fed will announce its interest-rate decision at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. The central bank is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target on hold at 0% to 0.25% and continue to signal that it will not raise rates for a long time.
Oil futures ended up 1.7% on Tuesday, breaking a nine-session losing streak, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lifted its global demand forecast.
The oil cartel revised higher its forecast for oil demand next year by 70,000 barrels a day, to 85.13 million barrels, citing demand from developing countries such as China and India.
However, OPEC said the pace of recovery in developed countries, especially in the U.S., remained at risk and could dampen demand. The cartel will hold its next meeting in Angola on Dec. 22.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, gasoline for January delivery rose 5 cents, or 2.7%, to $1.90 a gallon, and heating oil for January delivery gained 7 cents to $1.97 a gallon.
Natural gas for January delivery fell 6 cents to $5.46 per million British thermal units.
