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* EIA shows drop in U.S. crude stocks to 2018 levels
* OPEC+ struggles to pump more oil
* Gas price rally adds to the upside pressure
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments;
new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed more than
$1 on Wednesday after U.S. crude stocks fell to their lowest
levels in three years as refining activity recovered from recent
storms.
Despite recent wobbles from U.S. economic figures, overall
demand for fuel has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Product
supplied over the last four weeks has come in at nearly 21
million barrels per day, not far from 2019's peak.
U.S. crude inventories last week fell by 3.5 million barrels
to 414 million barrels, lowest since October 2018, the U.S.
Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
"Crude oil prices remain supported as demand recovers around
the world and inventories continue to draw," said Andrew Lipow,
president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose
$1.40, or 2%, to $71.88 a barrel by 11:50 a.m. EDT (1550 GMT),
Brent crude futures climbed $1.46, or 2%, to $75.82
a barrel.
Oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico continue to return to
production, with weekly output rising 500,000 bpd in the most
recent week to 10.6 million bpd, the EIA said. BP on
Wednesday said all four of its offshore facilities in the region
have resumed operations after Hurricane Ida, brought back online
and producing as of Sept. 12.
Also supporting prices has been difficulties by OPEC members
struggling to raise output. Rising prices in other markets like
natural gas have also supported oil, with energy market
shortages causing a supply crunch in Europe and Asia.
"Given the variety of supportive factors in the energy
space, notably sky-high natural gas prices ... dips in prices
right now are likely to be short-lived," said Jeffrey Halley, an
analyst at brokerage OANDA.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, which began a two-day policy
meeting on Tuesday, is expected to start tightening monetary
policy, which could cut investor tolerance for riskier assets
such as oil.
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Koustav
Samanta in Singapore; editing by Clarence Fernandez, Jason Neely
and David Gregorio)
