Investing.com - Oil prices added to overnight gains in North American trade on Thursday, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent climbing above the $50-level for the first time in almost eight months as falling stockpiles in the U.S. and global supply disruptions boosted sentiment.
Crude oil for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to an intraday peak of $50.21 a barrel, the most since October 9. It last stood at $50.10 by 12:45GMT, or 8:45AM ET, up 54 cents, or 1.09%.
On Wednesday, New York-traded oil futures rallied 94 cents, or 1.93%, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. fell more than expected last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories declined by 4.2 million barrels last week to 537.1 million. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock decline of 2.5 million barrels.
Nymex oil prices are up nearly 85% since falling to 13-year lows at $26.05 on February 11 as declining U.S. shale output boosted sentiment. However, with prices now at levels that make drilling economical for some firms, the oil rig count might start rising soon and the decline in U.S. production may slow.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery picked up 63 cents, or 1.27%, to trade at $50.37 a barrel after prices hit a daily high of $50.51, a level not seen since November 4.
A day earlier, London-traded Brent futures jumped $1.13, or 2.32%, as traders eyed supply disruptions in Nigeria, Canada and Venezuela.
Brent futures prices are up by roughly 85% since briefly dropping below $30 a barrel in mid-February, despite the collapse of talks at a Doha summit in April aimed at achieving a production freeze among OPEC and Non-OPEC producers. OPEC meets on June 2 in Vienna and may discuss the freeze initiative again.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the WTI crude contract stood at 27 cents a barrel, compared to a gap of 18 cents by close of trade on Wednesday.
The WTI crude contract briefly flipped to a premium compared to Brent for the first time since January earlier this week, as U.S. crude is more affected by the loss of production in Canada.