Oil prices have increased amid reports of declining US crude inventories, although the gains were largely restricted as the crude market remained oversupplied overall.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 climbed 27¢ to $51.07 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 20¢ to reach $47.75 a barrel, reported Reuters.

The American Petroleum Institute also reported a fall in US crude stocks by 9.2 million barrels in the week ending 11 August, reaching a total of 469.2 million barrels.

However, the report also stated that gasoline stocks increased by 301,000 barrels, despite an analyst prediction of a 1.1 million barrel fall.

"Brent crude futures LCOc1 climbed 27¢ to $51.07 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 20¢ to reach $47.75 a barrel."

Analysts noted that abundant supplies to the market are currently preventing oil prices from rising further.

Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Excessive supply […] is continuing to weigh on oil prices […] not a lot has changed, despite the OPEC and Russia efforts recently.”

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several key oil producers agreed in January to reduce oil production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by March next year.

However, the initiative was largely ineffective in restoring oil prices, primarily due to a 12% increase in US production to 9.42 million barrels per day since mid-2016.