Investing.com - U.S. crude oil prices held gains in Asia on Thursday as OPEC agreed to curbs on production with details apparently still under discussion and investors noted U.S. inventory data from the Department of Energy.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.15% to $47.12 a barrel. Brent crude for December delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange fell 0.16% to $49.16 a barrel.
OPEC surprised markets Wednesday and agreed to production curbs under a formula to cut output to a range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels of oil per day from 33.4 million.
Under the terms, Saudi Arabia, the world's top producer, is expected to cut output by 350,000 barrels a day, according to reports.
Overnight, oil prices dipped on Wednesday as data showing a large build in U.S. gasoline inventories prompted a selloff that killed an early rally on a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles for a fourth straight week.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 23, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 3.0 million barrels, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. Gasoline stocks rose by 2.0 million barrels, far more than the gain of 178,000 barrels forecast in a Reuters poll.