Oil prices rebound on surprise U.S. inventory drop, output flat at 10.3m

Oil prices rebounded Thursday as domestic inventories unexpectedly fell after rising for three consecutive week, while crude production was essentially unchanged.

The Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles fell by 1.6 million barrels and gasoline stockpiles were up by 261,000 barrels, and distillates fell by 2.4 million barrels. Output was steady at 10.27 million.

Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal expected a 1.9 million-barrel increase in crude stockpiles. But the American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday that stockpiles fell by 900,000 barrels last week.

U.S. crude rose 0.8% to $62.18 per barrel. Brent also edged up 0.5%, to $65.73 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil rose 1.8% on the stock market today. Chevron added 1.3%, BP rose 1.7% and Royal Dutch Shell was up 1.5%.

The report comes after U.S. shale firms raised their production outlooks for the year. Late Wednesday, Continental Resources, Parsley Energy and Matador Resources and predicted higher production this year as oil prices rebound.

And on Tuesday, Concho Resources said it expects full-year crude oil production growth of 20%.

Continental shares fell 7.3% Thursday, while Devon rose 1.9%.