The June WTI crude oil futures contract in NYMEX ACCESS trade at 11:15 Tokyo time on Thursday was at $45.13 per barrel (bbl), down 20cts from the closing price in New York on Wednesday while the June Brent contract in ICE After Hours Trading was at $46.92/bbl, down 26cts from the close in London on Wednesday. Takayuki Nogami, a chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said that, "following a sharp rise in crude prices on Wednesday in the US, moves to sell were seen in Asia Thursday morning." According to weekly US Energy Information Administration (EIA) oil data released in the US on Wednesday, crude oil inventories as of Apr 27 were up 2.00 million bbl on week. "Although selling was taking place, volume in that regard was limited as the increase in crude oil inventories was less than expected while at the same time crude oil production came in at a lower number on week," Nogami pointed out. Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average gained 231.03 points in Thursday morning trade rising to 17,521.52 as the dollar weakened to 111.72 to the yen.

RECX-22 index for Thursday was at 71.83 points, up 1.89 points from Wednesday with increases in indices for products that moved up in response to recent increases for crude oil prices.