(Corrects day in paragraph 8 to Wednesday, not Tuesday)
TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices gained more than 1% in
early trade on Wednesday, led by U.S. crude after an industry
group reported that U.S. stockpiles fell for a fourth week in a
row, alleviating concerns about oversupply.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) WTI futures Clc1 rose 90
cents, or 1.5%, to $58.73 by 0027 GMT. Brent LCOc1 was up 69
cents, or 1.1%, at $64.85.
The U.S. and global benchmarks have risen this year as OPEC
and big producers like Russia have honoured commitments to cut
production and support prices.
But investors have been looking for signs that unrelenting
production from the United States is being consumed, leading to
inventory declines.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell more than forecast last week,
while gasoline inventories decreased and distillate stocks
built, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute
(API) showed on Tuesday. API/S
Crude inventories fell by 8.1 million barrels in the week to
July 5 to 461.4 million, compared with analysts' expectations
for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by
754,000 barrels, API said.
Figures are due later on Wednesday from the U.S.
government's Energy Information Administration and, if the
official data confirms fall, it will also be the fourth
consecutive weekly decline.
Oil prices have been uner pressure from concerns about
global economic growth amid growing signs of harm from the
U.S.-China trade war that has rumbled on over the last year.
"Prices are finely balanced right now as investors await
fresh stimulus," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at
FOREX.com. "The stimulus could come in the form of a sharp
change in U.S. crude oil inventories."
Still, U.S. crude oil production is forecast to rise to a
fresh record of 12.36 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019 from
the high of 10.96 million bpd last year, the EIA's Short Term
Energy Outlook said on Tuesday. OPEC and allied producers led by Russia agreed last week to
extend their supply-cutting deal until March 2020. Brent has
risen nearly 20% in 2019, supported by the pact and tensions in
the Middle East, especially the row over Iran's nuclear
programme.