Oil surged by more than $4 a barrel towards $95 today after a pipeline explosion cut crude oil imports to the United States by nearly a fifth.
US crude jumped $4.10 to $94.72 a barrel earlier this morning, reversing the previous session's loss of $3.80. Brent crude jumped $2.74 to $92.55 a barrel.
An explosion hit a main pipeline that supplies Canadian crude to US Midwest refineries yesterday, forcing operator Enbridge to shut down four of its main pipelines.
The pipelines carry an estimated 1.9 million barrels per day of Canadian crude to the United States, a fifth of US imports.
The incident more than offset the impact of a smaller-than-expected drop in US crude and distillate stocks that had eased supply concerns and pushed prices into the biggest decline since August 6th.
But traders said expectations that Opec might increase output when it meets on December 5th might drive down prices.