Following the steepest loss in one month, oil prices finished slightly higher on Thursday as U.S. government data confirmed a fall in domestic crude supplies, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 39 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $45.52 a barrel.
On the London ICE Futures Exchange, September Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 32 cents, or 0.7%, to end trading at $48.11 a barrel.
On Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report revealed that domestic crude supplies dropped by 6.3 million barrels for the week ending June 30. Supply information was released a day late due to Tuesday’s Independence Day holiday.
The decrease topped the forecasts for a decline of 1.6 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts. It also bested the decrease of 5.8 barrels reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday.
Despite the across-the-board petroleum supply declines, domestic oil production edged up by 88,000 barrels a day to 9.338 million barrels a day, according to the EIA data.
Rising U.S. oil production in the wake of the OPEC accord has been a major concern in the market and has kept a lid on prices in recent months.
Meanwhile, August natural gas climbed 4.8 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $2.888 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The latest EIA report on natural gas supplies will be released on Friday, a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 63 billion cubic feet in natural gas supplies for the week ending June 30.