ANKARA

 Oil prices rose sharply late on Wednesday with a weak U.S. crude stock rise, projected production slowdown and the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimating higher global oil demand.

The price of the global benchmark Brent crude oil rose 5.7 percent to reach $63.27 per barrel at 7:30 p.m. GMT, up from $59.87 per barrel when it opened on Wednesday.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate also increased more than 3 percent to almost $56 per barrel, from slightly below $54 per barrel before the U.S. released its weekly oil inventories.

The commercial crude oil stocks in the U.S. rose by 1.2 million barrels in a week, its smallest buildup since Jan. 2.

Crude oil inventories rose to 483.6 million barrels for the week ending April 10, from 482.4 million barrels for the week ending April 3, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA said on Monday that total oil production in the U.S.’s seven most productive areas, which account for 95 percent of domestic oil output, is projected to fall in May by 57,000 barrels from April, to 5.56 million barrels per day.

The number of oil rigs in the U.S. is also in decline due to falling oil prices and the low level of investment returns for producers.

The oil drilling rig count fell by 42 to reach 760 last week, the 18th consecutive weekly fall and a 53 percent decrease since reaching a peak of 1,609 in October, U.S.-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes' said on Friday.

The International Energy Agency's latest report on Wednesday projected a rise in global oil demand for 2015.

The agency revised the global 2015 demand for oil to 93.6 million barrels a day, an increase of 90,000 barrels a day from previous estimates.