Oil rises on optimism about Chinese inventory decline

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose on Thursday after the losses incurred since the beginning of the week, as investors are optimist about the decline in Chinese oil inventories, which means a potential increase in demand.

Chinese oil inventories declined in July amid the fall in imports and continued refining to boost local demand, Reuters reported.

China's refiners processed 63.13 million metric tons in July, equivalent to 14.87 million bpd, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Subtracting the refinery throughput from the total crude available leaves a deficit of 510,000 bpd.

Brent crude for October delivery increased 0.8%, or $0.67, to close at $84.12 a barrel. Meanwhile, WTI contracts for September delivery rose 1.25%, or $1.01, to $80.39 a barrel.