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U.S.
crude was down 55 cents at $45.39 a barrel at 0600 ET. Brent
crude fell 58 cents to $48.47 a barrel.
The dollar held strong near 2-1/2-month highs against the euro
on Thursday, after the Fed signaled it may not wait until next
year to raise rates, highlighting the divergent monetary
policies of the world's most influential central banks.
"In just a couple of weeks the Fed seems to be less concerned
about China and expectations are therefore again rising for an
interest rate hike in December," Petromatrix consultancy's
Oliver Jakob said.
On Wednesday, Brent and U.S. crude rose by 5-6 percent - a rally
that analysts struggled to explain even after U.S. government
data showed a draw in total stocks.
"The U.S. weekly report can be taken on the positive side but
the rally of yesterday started before the release of the weekly
report and was a sub one-minute affair during which crude oil
gained more than $1 per barrel," Jakob said.
"We are not sure what was behind that one-minute flash surge but
it was definitively an unusual trading pattern."
U.S. crude stocks rose last week, while gasoline and distillate
inventories fell more than expected.
Crude inventories climbed in line with trader expectations but
the build-up was less than the 4.1-million-barrel increase
reported by the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group,
a day earlier.
Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S.
futures fell by 785,000 barrels, giving a bullish tone to the
report.
"The crude stock story might gain further momentum as despite a
year-on-year fall of just over 1,000 rigs in the Baker Hughes
oil rig count, we would caution that the widely expected fall in
U.S. crude oil production could be significantly lower than many
are expecting," JBC Energy consultancy said in a note.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
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