U. S. crude futures rallied to above $72 and closed more than 2 percent higher on Wednesday after government data showed that domestic crude inventories fell more than expected last week. U. S. natural gas futures climbed over 13 percent, rising along with stronger cash gas and continued short covering.

The EIA said crude stocks fell 4.7 million barrels to 332.8 million barrels, far more than the forecast for a 2.4 million decline in a poll of analysts, but against the
631,000-barrel increase reported by the API Tuesday.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage for NYMEX-traded oil, fell 3.7 million barrels to 27.6 million barrels. Distillate stocks rose 2.2 million barrels, larger than the forecast for a 1.3 million barrel build, but far below the API's 5.2 million barrel increase.

OPEC may need to cut oil supply next year to match a fall in demand for the group's crude, a Kuwaiti OPEC delegate said in a column published in a Kuwaiti newspaper.

Exxon Mobil Corp said it will shut down for planned maintenance the gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit No. 3 at its 562,500 barrel-per-day refinery in Baytown, Texas.

We expect crude oil to trade in a range of $1 today after posting a sharp gain in the last trading session. The optimism in equity markets may lend some upside support to Crude. Natural gas is likely to continue its upside rally on short covering and may take a direction from the inventory report by EIA.