The July WTI crude oil futures contract in NYMEX ACCESS trade at 11:15 hours Tokyo time on Thursday was at $49.77 per barrel (bbl), up 21cts from the closing price in New York on Wednesday while the July Brent contract in ICE After Hours Trading was at $50.01/bbl, up 27cts. According to weekly US Energy Information Administration (EIA) oil released in the US on Wednesday, crude oil inventories as of May 20 were down 4.20 mil bbl on week, a factor that kept buying in crude oil futures alive, buying that pulled prices higher. Takayuki Nogami, a chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said that, "the bullish inventory data led prices higher in the West on Wednesday, momentum that carried over into trade in Asia on Thursday." Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average gained 70.17 points in Thursday morning trade rising to 16,827.52 as the dollar fell to 109.59 to the yen.

RECX-22 index for Thursday was at 72.11 points, up 1.24 points from Wednesday, a reflection of firmer crude oil markets.