India, March 26 -- Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday to touch a three-week high after industry data showed a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories - signaling healthy demand for fuel in the world's largest economy.
Renewed efforts from the U.S. to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports also boosted prices.
Benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 0.6 percent to $72.83 in European trade while WTI crude futures were up 0.7 percent at $69.45.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels for the week ending March 21, while analysts had expected a 2.500-million-barrels draw.
Official U.S. government data on crude inventories, from the Energy Information Administrati...