Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday after data showed a bigger than expected decline in crude inventories in the US last week. Data released by US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the country fell by 6.866 million barrels last week, far more than the expected drop of about 4.03 million barrels. The data also showed distillate stockpiles increased by 1.616 million barrels last week, much more than expected increase of 171,000 barrels, while gasoline inventories dropped by over 6 million barrels in the week, nearly three times the expected decline. A report released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday showed crude inventories in the US fell by 8.0 million barrels last week.
Crude oil futures for August rose $0.74 or about 1 percent to settle at $72.94 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude gained $0.76 or 1.03 percent to settle at $74.19 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.