Brent oil rose more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday, trading above $73 as an industry report showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories and U.S. sanctions on OPEC producer Iran pointed to tighter supplies. The American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. crude stocks fell last week by 5.2 million barrels, more than three times the drop analysts expected. The government’s official figures are due at 1430 GMT. “The API inventory data published after the close of trading yesterday are lending buoyancy to prices,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said. “Thus the official inventory data this afternoon are also likely to show a more marked inventory reduction.” Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, rose $1.08 to $73.71 a barrel by 1006 GMT. […]