LONDON—Oil prices rose on Thursday on a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and a halt in exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Brent crude futures rose 40 cents, or 0.51 percent, to $78.68 a barrel at 0926 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 52 cents, or 0.71 percent, to $73.49 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week to March 24 to a two-year low, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
The 7.5 million-barrel drop in crude inventories compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 100,000-barrel rise.
Further support came as exports from Iraq’s northern region remain halted….