• Oil advanced from a five-month low on positive demand signals including a drop in US inventories and signs that the Federal Reserve has finished hiking interest rates.
• West Texas Intermediate rose toward $70 a barrel, after rebounding 1.3% on Wednesday from its lowest since end-June. Global benchmark Brent was above $74. US crude stockpiles fell for a second week while total oil and product inventories declined by the most since October, the Energy Information Administration said.
• Oil’s move higher has for now paused a slide of more than a quarter since end-September, fueled by signs of increased supply from outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.
• Crude is still headed for an eighth weekly decline, which would be the longest drop for WTI since August 2015, as the market remains skeptical the cartel will fully stick to pledged reductions into next year.