Oil prices ended higher Thursday as traders buy the dip after previous day's big losses.
Oil prices tumbled Wednesday as official data showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday that U.S. oil inventories rose 2.5 million barrels last week to 523.6 million barrels. Traders had expected that U.S. crude stockpiles would fall modestly.
Analysts thought that oil markets are moving slowly toward balance through a moderating increase in global supply and a steady increase in demand. They expect oil prices to stay between 40 U.S. dollars a barrel to 50 dollars a barrel through end-2017.
The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery increased 0.56 dollar to settle at 47.33 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery added 0.62 dollar to close at 49.67 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
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