Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil extended pared losses in North American trade on Thursday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. fell much more than expected.
Crude oil for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 40 cents, or 0.6%, to trade at $67.81 a barrel by 11:02AM ET (15:02GMT) compared to $67.33 ahead of the report.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 3.620 million barrels in the week ended May 25. Market analysts' had expected a crude-stock draw of just 0.400 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a build of 1.001 million.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 0.556 million barrels last week, the EIA said. Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 434.5 million barrels as of last week, according to press release, which the EIA indicated was “in the lower half of the average range for this time of year”.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories increased by 0.534 million barrels compared to a build of 1.883 million the prior week, while distillate stockpiles rose by 0.634 million barrels compared to a draw of 0.951 million a week earlier.
The report was released one day later than normal due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery gained $1.17, or around 1.5% to $78.89 by 11:06AM ET (15:06GMT), compared to $78.36 before the release.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the WTI crude contract stood at $10.99 a barrel 11:07AM ET (15:07GMT), compared to a gap of $9.51 by close of trade on Tuesday.
Prices in recent sessions had declined on concerns that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC members led by Russia would decide to lift output to help make up for any loss production from Venezuela and Iran.
OPEC is scheduled to hold its next meeting in Vienna on June 22.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for July delivery gained 1.3 cents to $2.19.14 a gallon by 11:08AM ET (14:08GMT), while the July contract for heating oil traded up 0.1 cents to $2.2353 a gallon.