Oil rises on US stockpile draw, doubts over climate accord

Oil futures rose on Thursday from a three-week low touched the previous session, buoyed by expectations the United States could pull out of a global climate accord and by a report that showed U.S. crude stockpiles had fallen more than expected.

Trump said he would announce later on Thursday a decision on whether to keep the United States in a global pact to fight climate change, as a source close to the matter said he was preparing to pull out of the Paris agreement.

“If he actually withdraws the U.S from the climate accord, this would signal his intention to further roll-back emission regulations that would favour the use and demand of fossil fuels, thus giving a much needed boost to oil prices,” said Jonathan Chan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. Brent crude futures for July were up 39 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $51.15 a barrel by 0552 GMT, after trading higher earlier.

On Wednesday, they fell $1.53, or 3 percent, to settle at $50.31 a barrel on their last day as the front-month contract. It was Brent’s lowest close since May 10 and the contract dropped 2.7 percent last month, the third monthly decline.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, $48.72 a barrel.

They dropped $1.34, or 2.7 percent, in the previous session to settle at $48.32 per barrel, the lowest close since May 12. The U.S. benchmark also fell for a third month in May, declining 2 percent.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed crude inventories were down by 8.7 million barrels at 513.2 million in the week to May 26. That compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 2.5 million barrels.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on stockpiles is due at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday, delayed by a day because of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.

Further gains may be limited for the two major oil benchmarks as bearish news keeps coming from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia that are locked in a battle against rising shale production in their efforts to boost prices.