REUTERS

U.S. crude inventories fell 6.5 million barrels last week, government data showed, steeper than the expected decrease of 2.7 million barrels. Refiners processed nearly 17.6 million barrels of crude, surpassing a record set in May and the most for any week since the U.S. Department of Energy started keeping data in 1982, as reported by Reuters.

Read alsoOil eases as rising output weighs, but still near nine-week highsBrent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, ended the session up 56 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $52.70, after two days of declines. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained 39 cents, or 0.8 percent to settle at $49.56.