Oil prices rose on Thursday, with benchmark Brent crude trading at $50.92 a barrel after a fall in U.S inventories and a bigger-than-expected cut in Saudi supplies to Asia helped tightened the market.
Brent was 70 cents higher at $50.92 a barrel. US light crude oil was up 75 cents at $48.08.
“We saw the biggest draw in (US) inventories for the year last week with stockpiles down more than five million barrels, and it looks like OPEC’s production cut is finally biting,” said Greg
McKenna, chief market strategist at brokerage AxiTrader.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC and other producers including Russia have agreed to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year to try to reduce a global fuel glut.
OPEC meets on May 25 to decide on production policy for the second half of 2017, and most analysts expect the group to extend cuts until at least the end of the year.
