Investing.com - Oil prices rose to a two-week high in European trade on Thursday, extending gains into a sixth session after U.S. government data revealed the biggest weekly decline in domestic crude production in almost a year.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude August contract was at $45.12 a barrel by 3:35AM ET (0735GMT), up 38 cents, or around 0.9%. It touched its highest since June 14 at $45.23 earlier.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for September delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London tacked on 37 cents, or about 0.8%, to $47.91 a barrel, after hitting a two-week high of $48.03.
Crude prices posted sharp gains on Wednesday, with the commodity logging its fifth wining session in a row.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that total domestic crude production fell by 100,000 barrels a day to 9.25 million barrels a day for the week ended June 23. That was the biggest decline in weekly output since July 2016.
There was additional support stemming from a decline in U.S. gasoline inventories, which more than offset an unexpected rise in crude supplies.
Oil prices have been under pressure in recent weeks as concern over rising U.S. shale output canceled out production cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC members.
Last month, OPEC and some non-OPEC producers extended a deal to cut 1.8 million barrels per day in supply until March 2018.
The cartel will not rush into making a further cut in oil output or end some countries' exemptions to output limits, OPEC delegates said earlier this week, although a meeting in Russia next month is likely to consider further steps to support the market.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for August inched up 0.7 cents, or roughly 0.5%, to $1.487 a gallon, while August heating oil added 1.2 cents to $1.451 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for August delivery dipped 0.3 cents to $3.091 per million British thermal units, as traders looked ahead to weekly storage data due later in the global day.