LONDON, July 24 (Reuters): Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by optimism over U.S. trade negotiations that would ease pressure on the global economy and a sharper-than-expected decline in US crude inventories.
Brent crude futures had gained 61 cents, or 0.89%, to $69.12 a barrel by 1329 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 73 cents, or 1.12% to $65.98 per barrel.
"The U.S. crude inventory draw and the trade efforts are adding some support to prices," said Janiv Shah, an analyst at Rystad.
Two European diplomats said on Wednesday that the EU and the United States were moving towards a trade deal that could include a 15% US baseline tariff on EU imports and possible exemptions, potentially paving the way for another major trade agreement following the Japan deal.
On the supply side, U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed U.S. crude inventories fell last week by 3.2 million barrels to 419 million barrels, exceeding analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.
Oil prices were also supported by a suspension of Azeri crude exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan and a brief halt to loadings at Russia's main Black Sea ports which has since been resolved.
BP said that organic chlorides were detected in some of the oil tanks in the terminal at Ceyhan, adding that oil loading continued from some of the tanks with chloride levels assessed to be within normal specifications, while export activities via the BTC pipeline also continued.
Traders will be watching for further news on loadings from Ceyhan and Novorossiysk, which together make up around 2.5% of global oil supply at 2.5 million barrels per day, according to Reuters calculations based on loading data from the region.
Analysts expect oil price gains to remain limited.
