Brent pushes above $50

Reuters

Singapore

Brent oil futures climbed above $50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in nearly seven months, boosted after U.S. government figures showed a sharper-than-expected drawdown in crude stocks last week.

Brent LCOc1 had climbed 38 cents to $50.12 a barrel by 0648 GMT, its highest since Nov. 4. It ended the previous session up $1.13, or 2.3 percent.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 33 cents to their strongest since Oct. 12 at $49.89 a barrel, after settling the last session 94 cents higher.

"Geopolitical issues in West Africa and the Middle East, supply outages, increased demand and maybe a touch of a weaker dollar have all helped push prices higher," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney's Ayers Alliance.  "I don't think the rally will last because prices will reach a level that will bring U.S. shale oil output back into the market," he added.