Oil prices firm on lower US supplies

World oil prices rose today following a fall in US crude inventories, as traders set aside OPEC's refusal to introduce production caps.
The commodity initially fell yesterday after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ended its Vienna meeting with no agreement, as expected, to lower or limit output despite a glut.
However, it rebounded after a US Department of Energy (DoE) report showed commercial crude inventories sank by 1.4 million barrels last week, indicating a pick-up in demand in the world's top crude consumer.
At about 1600 IST, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July added two cents to USD 49.19 a barrel.

The London Brent crude contract for August delivery was eight cents higher at USd 50.12.
"The price volatility before and after the OPEC meeting has been marginal and confirms the new-normal of the market's lack of interest for OPEC," said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.