SINGAPORE — Oil prices rose around 1% on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session after a surprise third consecutive weekly US crude inventory draw tightened the market.US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were trading at $45.81 per barrel at 3.01am, up 47 cents, or 1%, from their previous close. The contract had already gained as much as 3% the day before.Prices jumped after a report from the US 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."Oil prices rose after EIA data showed US crude inventories declined to the lowest level since February," ANZ bank said in a note on Thursday.International benchmark Brent crude futures 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 wea...
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