The market responded to the decrease and Brent oil prices nearly hit $50 a barrel – a seven month high.
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USA crude oil inventories declined by 1.4 million barrels from the previous week, compared to a 4.2 million barrel drop during the week ending on May 20.
Crude prices hit session-lows on Thursday after OPEC ended its semi-annual meeting in Vienna without making any adjustments to its production ceiling.
Futures were little changed in NY, set to slide 0.2 percent this week. Brent crude futures were trading at $49.66 per barrel by 10:21 a.m. ET (1421 GMT), down 38 cents, but still nearly double January lows and on track for its eighth weekly gain in nine weeks.
A big driver of the rebalancing in global oil markets is falling U.S. shale output, and data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday showed a further decline in production last week. Prices closed Thursday above $50 for the first time since November 3.
Gasoline inventories also faced a draw of 1.492 million barrels after enjoying a two million barrel EIA-reported increase during the week ending on May 27th. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of 46 cents to West Texas Intermediate.
Overnight, crude futures inched up on Thursday, reversing territory late in the session, as a sharp decline in USA crude inventories offset a widely expected decision by OPEC to leave its production ceiling unchanged. The energy minister of Qatar said, “the worst is over” and that prices are now stabilizing.
Iran maintained its right to steeply raise crude exports to pre-sanction levels, although Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said he didn’t think others in OPEC would ramp up supply.
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OPEC also named Mohammed Barkindo of Nigeria as Secretary-General at Thursday’s meeting.
