US crude prices rose on Thursday after government inventory data showed a sharp drawdown in gasoline that outweighed a build in overall crude stocks, while Brent edged up supported by the low Libyan output and the Ukraine crisis. US crude stockpiles rose 1.7 million barrels last week, but a strong start to the summer driving season drained gasoline inventories by 1.8 million barrels, far more than forecast, the Energy Information Administration reported.
-- Cushing stocks fall 1.53m barrels
-- Libyan oil production at just 155,000 bpd
Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub for US crude also fell 1.53 million barrels, EIA said, as shippers continued to flood the Gulf Coast with supplies. Gulf Coast stocks rose 3.1 million barrels, the EIA data showed. The brighter demand outlook underpinned prices already boosted by concerns about Libyan supply and tensions between the West and Russia, which has threatened to cut off Ukraine's natural gas supply by Monday if a price dispute is not settled.
US crude oil rose as much as $1.22 to an intra-day high of $103.94 before giving back some gains to settle 86 cents higher at $103.58 a barrel. Brent crude settled 16 cents higher at $109.97 a barrel after losing 21 cents on Wednesday. Oil prices have range bound throughout May, with US crude unable to top $105 or fall much below $99 a barrel, while Brent has traded roughly between $111 and just below $107 a barrel.
"The GDP is a little bit weaker, and even though the winter is long gone, people are going to look at the data," said Carl Larry, president of oil consultancy Oil Outlooks. "The market is tired. Whether it's to the upside or downside, there is not much follow through. People are re-focusing on the bigger picture." Traders continued to watch the situation in Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists shot down an army helicopter on Thursday, as government forces pressed ahead with an offensive to crush rebellions in the east following the election of a new president.
Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission are scheduled for Friday, as time runs out to solve a gas price dispute before next Monday, when Moscow has threatened it would cut off supplies. In Libya, acting prime minister, Abdullah Al-Thinni, refused to hand over power to a newly elected premier after questioning his legitimacy in a deepening confrontation among the OPEC nation's rival factions. Oil output in the North African country has dropped to just 155,000 barrels per day, just one tenth of capacity, amid the current political crisis.
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