Oil prices advanced on Thursday as a drawdown of U.S. crude inventories and output cuts by major producers helped ease concerns about a supply glut, though lingering fears over the global economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic capped gains.
Brent crude futures for July delivery LCoc1 were trading up 33 cents, or 0.9%, at $36.08 per barrel at 0344 GMT, rising for a second day, as reported by Reuters.
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U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July CLc1 were up 20 cents, or 0.6%, at $33.69 a barrel, extending its gains into a sixth straight session.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 5 million barrels last week, against expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2 million-barrel rise, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed, while stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 5.6 million barrels.
Prices have been boosted lately by shipping data showing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, are complying with their pledge to cut 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd).
