Oil prices rose on Thursday after the drop in US crude oil stocks, but Brent crude oil is still below $ 30 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up 51 cents, or 1.8%, at $29.70 per barrel at 0755 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 54 cents, or 2.1%, at $25.83 per barrel.
Prices have increased along with demand over the past two weeks as some countries have relaxed coronavirus restrictions and deadlocks.
However, the emergence of new cases in South Korea and China raised concerns about a possible wave of infection that could harm economic recovery and fuel demand.
According to sources U.S. crude stockpiles were drawn down as 745,000 barrels to 531.5 million barrels in the week to May 8.
The global demand forecast increased by 1.4 million barrels (bpd) per day, but a decrease of 16 million bpd is forecast from pre-COVID levels.
Improved demand and low production will make the situation of the global oil market more understandable in June. However, summer price estimates for Brent are $ 30 per barrel and $ 28 per barrel for WTI are preserved.
However, there are those who expect the steepest drop in demand in the second quarter. The second quarter demand for OPEC oil is only 16.77 million bpd, well below OPEC production levels, even considering the full implementation of OPEC + cuts.
