Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday as supplies in the United States further tightened after shrinking to the smallest levels since January 2020. Data from information provider Genscape indicated that the inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub have continued to draw. Cushing stockpiles were seen at 36.299 million barrels by Tuesday, down 360,917 barrels from July 23. Further, a weak dollar contributed as well to the jump in oil prices. The dollar index dropped to 91.91, losing more than 0.4%. The dollar drifted lower after the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it has not yet set a time to start tapering its bond purchases.
Crude oil futures for September rose $1.23 or 1.7 percent to settle $73.62 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude gained $1.30 or 1.7 percent to settle at $76.04 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.