Oil prices rose around 1% on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session after a surprise third consecutive weekly U.S. crude inventory draw tightened the market, according to Reuters.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were trading at $45.81 per barrel at 0301 GMT (11:01 p.m. EDT), up 47 cents, or 1%, from their previous close, Reuters wrote.
The contract had already gained as much as 3% the day before.
Prices jumped after a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a 6.2 million-barrel drop in crude oil inventories last week to 504.6 million barrels. Forecasters in a Reuters poll had expected a 3.4 million-barrel build.
International benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were also up, gaining 48 cents, or 1%, from their last close to $47.31 per barrel.
Brent was lifted by an oil workers` strike in Norway, which threatened to cut North Sea crude output.
A weaker dollar after the Federal Reserve left U.S. interest rates unchanged also supported oil prices as it makes dollar-traded fuel imports cheaper for countries using other currencies.
Analysts, however, said they expect oil prices to remain range-bound at relatively low levels with global output near record highs and surpassing consumption, adding that producer talks in Algeria next week were likely to change little.
The United Arab Emirates, a participating producer, said on Wednesday that the talks were aimed at consultations rather than deciding production restraint or even cuts.
