Investing.com - Crude eased in Asia on Thursday with U.S. inventory data failing so far to support a sustained rally on the back of OPEC moves to stick with output cuts through March 2018.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery fell 0.16% to $48.67 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental
Exchange, Brent was last quoted at $50.88 a barrel.
Crude oil inventories dropped a sharp 7.208 million barrels at the end of last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, blowing past estimates, but still less than the 10 million-plus barrels estimate by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Gasoline inventories however rose by 1.015 million barrels, EIA said, as distillates dropped by 1.825 million barrels.
Crude futures settled higher on Wednesday, as investors cheered data showing supplies of U.S. crude fell by more-than-expected for a fourth-straight week, lifting expectations that supplies will tighten during the second-half of the year.
The bigger-than-expected drop crude and gasoline stockpiles comes after investor sentiment on oil turned positive, following Saudi Arabia’s pledge to lower crude exports and supply disruptions in Nigeria.
At a gathering of ministers from major crude-producing nations in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said his country would limit crude oil exports at 6.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, almost 1 million bpd below levels a year ago.
Nigerian output slipped this week as leaks forced Shell (LON:RDSa) to shut a pipeline exporting 180,000 bpd of oil. Nigeria, which has been exempted from OPEC-led production cuts, also agreed to cap or cut output when it stabilized at 1.8 million bpd.