Oil rises

Tokyo

Oil futures climbed nearly 1 percent on Thursday after data showed a surprise decline in U.S. crude stocks as imports fell, supporting the view that a global glut is ending.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude April contract had risen 50 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $54.09 a barrel by 0229 GMT.

Brent crude was up 51 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $56.35, although both benchmarks were still well within recent tight ranges.

That added to optimism earlier in the week when the OPEC said a deal with other producers including Russia to curb output was showing a high level of compliance.

However, for prices to break out of their trading ranges, the market needs to see signs that OPEC inventories are falling, said Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.