Crude oil futures end higher on Wednesday

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday buoyed by reports of further reductions to global output and optimism around constructive US-China trade negotiations. De facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia, pledged to cut output further in the coming months. The country would cut an additional 500,000 barrels a day to take production to 9.8 million barrels a day in March. The gains for crude came despite data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that revealed domestic crude supplies rose by 3.6 million barrels for the week ended February 8. That marked a fourth-straight week rise, and was larger than the 2.7 million-barrel rise expected by S&P Global Platts. The American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday showed a decline of 998,000 barrels.

Benchmark crude oil futures for March gained 80 cents or 1.5 percent to settle $53.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude rose 1.19 cents or 1.9 percent to settle at $63.61 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.