Investing.com - Oil prices were back under pressure in North American trade on Thursday, giving back some of the prior session's strong gains as investors remain fixated on a global glut of crude supplies.
Crude oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 13 cents, or 0.32%, to trade at $40.70 a barrel by 13:34GMT, or 9:34AM ET.
A day earlier, New York-traded oil jumped $1.32, or 3.34%, after data showed that gasoline supplies in the U.S. fell sharply last week, offsetting a surprise build in crude stockpiles.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that gasoline inventories decreased by 3.3 million barrels in the week ended July 29, much more than the expected 0.2-million-barrel decline.
The report also showed that crude oil inventories rose by a surprising 1.4 million barrels last week to 522.5 million, which the EIA considered to be “historically high levels for this time of year”.
Despite Wednesday's gains U.S. oil prices remain near four-month lows of $39.19 hit earlier this week. WTI crude futures are nearly 20% lower from their 2016 highs above $50 a barrel scaled in early June, technically placing it in bear market territory, as signs of an ongoing recovery in U.S. drilling activity combined with elevated stocks of fuel products weighed.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for October delivery inched down 25 cents, or 0.6%, to $42.84 a barrel, after rallying $1.30, or 3.11% on Wednesday.
London-traded Brent futures are down almost 18% since peaking at $52.80 in early June, as prospects of increased exports from Middle Eastern and North African producers, such as Iraq, Nigeria and Libya, added to concerns that a glut of oil products will cut demand for crude by refiners.