Oil prices in Asia rose due to a significant draw in crude oil stocks, which fell by 6.1m barrels during the week ending April 21, according to the American Petroleum Institute's figures. Brent crude rose by 0.2% to $80.93 a barrel at 0006GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.3% to $77.32 a barrel. Crude oil had settled 2% lower on Tuesday, driven by a drop in US consumer confidence for April and concerns over the potential for banking instability after regional US bank First Republic reported a large number of deposit withdrawals.
