LONDON—Oil prices reached a high for the year on Wednesday, with U.S. prices breaking above $45 for the first time since November following data that showed a surprise fall in U.S. oil inventories. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.4% to $46.85 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 2.2% at $45.01 a barrel. Data by the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, released late on Tuesday showed that U.S. crude inventories decreased by 1.1 million barrels last week. The Energy Information Administration will release its official data later on Wednesday and analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal expect crude stocks to have risen by 1.7 million barrels. Workers walk toward Halliburton Co. “sand castles” at an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. hydraulic fracturing site… “Any news that could suggest a higher price is viewed as […]