Oil surges over 2 percent to June highs on another U.S. crude draw

By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices hit session highs on Wednesday, rising to their highest since June, after the U.S. government reported another surprise weekly drawdown in crude inventories.

Brent crude was up $1.13, or 2.2 percent, at $52 a barrel by 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT), peaking at $52.09, its highest since June 10.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.20, or 2.4 percent, at $49.89. It earlier hit $49.95, a high since June 29.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles fell nearly 3 million barrels for the week ended Sept. 30, marking a fifth straight weekly drop.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a build of 2.6 million barrels. But the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group, on Tuesday set market expectations for an inventory decline by reporting a 7.6 million-barrel drop.

"Hence positive news has already been baked in the cake, and prices could ease lower from here, especially given the rampant rally of recent days," said Matt Smith, analyst at New York-based Clipperdata, which analyses data and impact from crude cargoes and supplies.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Chizu Nomiyama)