Ammon News - Oil prices rose in early trade on Thursday, reversing the previous session's losses, buoyed by stronger-than-expected economic data from the world’s top oil consumers and signs of easing trade tensions.

Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.39%, to $68.79 a barrel at 0000 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 31 cents, or 0.47%, at $66.69. Both benchmarks fell more than 0.2% in the previous session.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels to 422.2 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, a steeper decline than forecasts for a 552,000-barrel draw, suggesting stronger refinery activity, tighter supply, and increased demand.

The U.S. central bank's latest snapshot of the economy, released on Wednesday, showed activity picked up in recent weeks. However, the outlook was "neutral to slightly pessimistic" as businesses reported that higher import tariffs were putting upward pressure on prices.

China data showed growth slowed in the second quarter, but not by as much as previously feared, in part because of front-loading to beat U.S. tariffs, easing fears over the state of the world's largest crude importer's economy.

The data also showed that China's June crude oil throughput was up 8.5% from a year ago, implying stronger fuel demand. Reuters