Oil prices gain on fall in U.S. crude stockpiles - Reuters

Oil prices gain on fall in U.S. crude stockpiles - Reuters:

Oil prices rose on Thursday as a sharp drop in oil stockpiles outweighed concerns that a spike in U.S. coronavirus infections and revived lockdown measures in California could stall a recovery in fuel demand.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 21 cents or 0.5% at $42.24 a barrel by 1114 GMT, after rising 1.8% in the previous session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $40.02 a barrel, adding to a 1.4% rise on Wednesday.

U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell 7.2 million barrels from a record high last week, far more than analysts had expected, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed, as refiners ramped up production and imports eased.