NEW YORK, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices climbed on Friday after data showed a hefty dip in the U.S. fuel stockpiles.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery added 1.62 U.S. dollars to settle at 74.56 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery increased 1.43 dollars to close at 75.55 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"The inventory data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday alleviated concerns for the time being about a dispute within the producer alliance OPEC+ and about a weakening of demand," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Friday.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 6.9 million barrels during the week ending July 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Thursday.
The EIA report also showed total motor gasoline inventories decreased 6.1 million barrels last week and were about 2 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had forecast the EIA publications to show a fall of 6.2 million barrels in crude stocks and a drop of 1.7 million barrels in gasoline supplies.
For the week, the U.S. crude benchmark declined 0.84 percent, and Brent dropped 0.8 percent. Enditem