U.S. crude oil stocks drop 13 cents on day one

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U.S. crude oil stocks drop 13 cents on day one

SINGAPORE Reuters : Oil prices slipped on Thursday, but kept most of the previous day's gains after a bigger-than-expected drawdown in crude oil stocks in the United States, the world's largest consumer of oil.

Brent crude oil dropped 13 cents, or 0.2%, a barrel at $75.33 a barrel by 0128 GMT, after trading up 2.5% the previous day.

West Texas Intermediate WTI crude was down 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $72.49, after slamming 3.1% higher on Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil and fuel stocks decreased sharply last week as refiners in the U.S. Gulf region and oil facilities offshore were still recovering from hurricane Ida, the EIA said on Wednesday. EIA S Crude inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels in the week to Sept. 10 to 417.4 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with expectations in a Reuters Poll for a 3.5 million-barrel drop on Oct. 10.

The data follow warnings from the International Energy Agency that supply lost by storms in the Gulf of Mexico would offset gains from OPEC, analysts from ANZ Research said in a note on Thursday.

The storm caused a global decline in supply for the first time in five months but the market is set to begin approaching equilibrium in October as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, a group of countries called OPEC carry out plans to increase supply.

Still, U.S. Gulf energy companies have been able to quickly restore pipeline service and electricity after Hurricane Richard passed through Texas, allowing them to double their efforts to repair Ida's damage.

Nicholas caused minor flooding and power outages in Texas and Louisiana, where some refineries remained offline in the wake of Hurricane Ida Category 4.

The earlier hurricane shut a large portion of the U.S. Gulf offshore oil and gas production. About 30% of U.S. Gulf production remained closed as of Wednesday, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.