TOKYO/SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose on Thursday after a bigger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories, although concerns that the U.S.-China trade war will trigger an economic downturn kept a lid on gains.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $69.71 per barrel at 0502 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.4% from their last close. Brent fell nearly 1% in the previous session.U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels in the week to May 24 to 474.4 million barrels, data from industry group, the American Petroleum Institute, showed on Wednesday.
Many analysts expect the supply cuts to be extended in a meeting next month as OPEC’s de-facto leader Saudi Arabia wants to prevent oil prices falling back to levels seen in late 2018 when Brent slumped to $50 per barrel. “An escalating U.S.-China trade war represents a risk to oil markets,” Bernstein Energy said on Thursday in a note.