Yemisi Izuora
Oil prices edged down on Thursday despite a surprise decline in U.S. inventories, with international benchmark Brent retreating from a five-month high touched in the previous session.
Brent crude futures were at $71.51 a barrel down 11 cents, or 0.2 per cent, from their last close. Brent fell 0.1 per cent on Wednesday, after earlier touching its highest since November 8 at $72.27 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.67 per barrel, down 9 cents, or 0.1 per cent, from their previous settlement. WTI closed the last session down 0.5 percent.
“Prices are soft despite a surprise drawdown in U.S. inventories,” ANZ Bank said in a research note.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to April 12, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 1.7 million barrels.
Net U.S. crude imports last week dropped by 659,000 barrels per day (bpd).