Oil prices continued their steady uptick Wednesday, rising above $51 per barrel amid turmoil in Nigeria, early signs of a reawakening U.S. market, encouraging reports on China's growth and diminishing crude supplies.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week ended June 3, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report released Wednesday morning.
Those figures suggest that the oil market is rebalancing, as a longstanding global glut of oil is easing.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.2% to $51.23 a barrel, up 87 cents. The global benchmark, Brent crude, was up 2.1% to $52.51 a barrel, up 2.1%.
Crude hasn't settled above $51 since July 15, according to the Oil Price Information Service.
One encouraging sign for the market was last week's increase in active U.S. oil rigs, according to figures from Baker Hughes, an oilfield services company.
"The past few weeks have clearly shown that the U.S. rig count has bottomed," Deutsche Bank analysts said Tuesday in a research note. "The next question becomes, how confident are the operators in the sustainability of oil prices at these levels?"
This week's boost in prices can be attributed partially to unrest in Nigeria, where militants have attacked oil facilities, causing supply disruptions, according to JBC Energy analysts.
To be sure, however, few analysts expect oil prices to increase significantly. Capital Economics analysts recently projected that oil would retreat to $45 per barrel by the end of 2016.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.