Oil rises after OPEC+ alliance of major producers maintains oil output cuts

* Brent up 0.1% as of 0120 GMT, WTI gains 0.2%
* U.S. crude stockpiles fall, gasoline inventories surge
-EIA

By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on
Thursday after the OPEC+ alliance of major producers stuck to a
reduced output policy at a meeting on Wednesday, and as crude
stockpiles in the United States fell to their lowest levels
since March last year.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures gained 4 cents, or 0.1%, to
$58.50 a barrel, by 0120 GMT. On Wednesday, Brent prices hit
their highest since Feb. 21, 2020. O/R
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
climbed 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $55.82 a barrel after reaching its
highest settlement level in a year on Wednesday.
"Crude prices have been rising higher now that OPEC+ has
convinced the energy market that they are determined in
accelerating market re-balancing without delay," said Edward
Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and allies, known as OPEC+, extended its current oil output
policy at a meeting on Wednesday, a sign that producers are
happy that their deep supply cuts are draining inventories
despite an uncertain outlook for a recovery in demand as the
coronavirus pandemic lingers.
Oil has rallied from historic lows hit last year, thanks to
record OPEC+ output cuts that the group is starting to unwind.
Also supporting prices, U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by
994,000 barrels last week to 475.7 million barrels, their lowest
since March, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on
Wednesday. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a
446,000-barrel rise. While refinery utilisation rates rose by 0.6 percentage
points to 82.3% of capacity, U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 4.5
million barrels, EIA said.
Continued progress in rolling out COVID-19 vaccines is also
an important driver of oil prices, OANDA's Moya said.
"The world now has several effective COVID vaccines that
should really force energy traders to upgrade their return to
pre-pandemic behaviour forecasts," he said.