Crude oil prices for future contracts climbed on Thursday following the report by US Energy Information Administration (EIA) that indicated a lower-than-expected inventory build up last week, seemingly pointing to marginal increase in demand for the commodity.
In addition, the optimism on the larger crude oil consumption in China likely continued to drive prospects of higher demand, pushing the prices to rise. Meanwhile, investors carefully braced for the OPEC panel meeting scheduled for next week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for deliveries in March edged up by 1.02% to sell at $80.98 per barrel at 7:11 am ET. At the same time, Brent for settlements in March gained 0.92% to go to $86.95 per barrel.
