NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices extended gains on Thursday as trade optimism and reports of further reduction in global energy supply bolstered the market.
The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery increased 0.51 U.S. dollar to settle at 54.41 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery climbed 0.96 dollar to close at 64.57 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
China and the United States started a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing on Thursday. Market participants were closely watching the progress of the trade talks.
Oil prices were also underpinned by signs of a tightening fuel supply.
Global supply fell 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) to 99.7 million bpd in January, said a monthly report on Wednesday by the International Energy Agency.
A separate report on Tuesday showed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) significantly curbed its crude oil production.
OPEC said that crude oil production decreased by 797,000 barrels a day in January to average 30.81 million bpd.
In December, OPEC and some other major oil producers, including Russia, pledged to cut production by 1.2 million bpd in order to prop up prices, effective from January 2019.
