Oil firmer in Asia, gasoline inventory drawdown underpins

Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic extended the previous rebound on Thursday, inching further into the green territory as traders continue to cheer an unexpected drop in the gasoline stockpiles.

WTI wavers above $ 41 mark

Currently, both crude benchmarks now stall rebound and trims gains, with Brent up +0.42% at $ 43.30, while WTI gains +0.64% to trade just ahead of 41 barrier. Oil prices edged higher this session as markets breathed a sigh of relief after the latest EIA report showed that gasoline inventories unexpectedly decreased by nearly 3.3 million barrels, while inventories at Cushing dropped by more than 1.1 million barrels.  

Hence, markets chose to ignore the bearish crude stockpiles data that showed an increase in crude oil inventories by more than 1.4 million barrels during last week.

However, any upside is likely to be short-lived as oil markets still remain submerged into amply crude supplies. Meanwhile, the black gold ignored the recent strength in the greenback, as focus now shifts towards the crucial US employment data due tomorrow.