Oil prices in New York rose above USD 50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since June, boosted by lower US petroleum inventories.The drop in US oil inventories in yesterday’s weekly US report added to momentum after last week’s OPEC announcement of a plan to cut output.
Near 1840 IST, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November was at USD 50.25 a barrel, up 38 cents in intraday trade.
Wednesday’s report from the US Department of Energy showed a drop of three million barrels in US commercial crude- oil inventories and lower US oil production for the week ending September 30. Oil prices have strengthened even as analysts have expressed skepticism that OPEC will follow the plan.