Oil prices continued to rise on Wednesday, taking advantage of the weak dollar and after the announcement of a larger than expected weekly drop in American crude reserves.

The barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in February, which is the last trading day, gained 0.48 percent or 25 cents to 51.34 dollars.

For its part, the American barrel of WTI for the month of February rose 0.83% or 40 cents to 48.40 dollars.

“Oil prices have been helped by the weak dollar,” summarised Stephen Innes, an analyst at Axi.

The dollar index, which compares the greenback to other major currencies, was trading at its lowest level in two and a half years on Wednesday.

For the black gold market, this means that a barrel, priced in dollars, is cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

In addition, American reserves fell sharply during the week ending December 25, according to data published on Wednesday by the American Energy Information Agency (EIA) on American reserves.

Commercial crude stocks plunged 6.07 million barrels, while analysts expected a decrease of 3.1 million barrels, according to a consensus compiled by Bloomberg.

Finally, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, are due to meet on Monday, January 4, for their monthly meeting.

At the beginning of December, member countries decided to increase their production, which they voluntarily limit, by only 500,000 barrels per day, to avoid flooding the market with the two million barrels per day initially planned.