Oil prices rise on bigger-than-expected drop in US crude stocks

SINGAPORE -Oil prices extended gains from the previous session on Thursday, buoyed by a bigger-than-expected decline last week in crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.futures rose 32 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.40 a barrel by 0340 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 48 cents, or 0.6%, to $83.33.inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.

The prospects of cuts in interest rates in coming months in the both the U.S. and Europe helped to support the market. The European Central Bank, meanwhile, is all but certain to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday, but signalled that its next move is likely to be a cut.

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