By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Thursday after U.S. industry data showed a large drawdown in crude stocks, reflecting the impact of an Atlantic storm that led to production shut-ins in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. crude stocks fell by 12.1 million barrels last week, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed after the market settled on Wednesday, compared with expectations for an increase of about 200,000 barrels.
If confirmed by data from the U.S. Department of Energy at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), that will be the biggest drop in weekly inventories since 1985.
Brent crude oil rose 78 cents to $48.76 a barrel, a 1.6 percent gain, by 9:27 a.m. EDT (1327 GMT).
U.S. crude was up 87 cents at $46.37 per barrel, a 1.9 percent gain.
Stocks of U.S. crude have been at record highs in the past two years, thanks partly to an output-boosting shale oil boom.
But Tropical Storm Hermine, which threatened the Gulf Coast refining region, led to the loss of some U.S. oil production and limited imports.
The U.S. government said last week that a little more than 22 percent of crude oil equivalent production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut in as a precautionary measure.
"It was not just the hurricanes that impacted supply, as a reported 703,000 barrel drop in Cushing, Oklahoma helped reduce supply as well," said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group brokerage in Chicago.
Oil was also buoyed by robust trade data from China, which showed its crude imports in August surged by nearly a quarter from a year ago to the second-highest ever, driven by independent refiners rushing to cash in on low oil prices before import quotas expire in December.
Crude prices hit a one-week high on Monday after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to cooperate on stabilising the oil market. Uncertainty remains, however, over the chances of an output freeze being agreed by producer nations, particularly after an April meeting in Doha failed to reach an agreement.
"Implementation remains highly questionable and current OPEC production already approaches levels we had not anticipated until 2018," Macquarie Research analysts said in a note.
"Even if a 'freeze' truly materializes, it will provide little fundamental impact."
Russian average oil production was close to 11 million barrels per day (bpd) in the period of Sept. 1-7, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers such as Russia are expected to discuss the issue at informal talks in Algeria from Sept. 26-28.
(Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
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