•Global crude futures were stronger Thursday, holding on to gains on Wednesday following the release of bullish US stocks data. News of supply disruptions in Angola helped drive prices higher. In addition, the closure of Tepco's Kashiwazaki nuclear plant, the world's largest nuclear plant, following this week's earthquake in Japan could add to oil demand in the near future, sources said.

•At 10:09 GMT, September ICE Brent gained 49 cents to $77.25/b. August NYMEX WTI was up as well, gaining 39 cents to $75.44/b. Middle East crude futures were also higher, with September ICE Dubai up 77 cents to $70.85/b. September DME Oman increased 64 cents to $71.53/b. "Oil prices made another sharp move higher on Wednesday, boosted by a constructive set of US weekly oil statistics," Barclays Capital analysts said in a report Thursday.

•Analysts also noted that prices were pushed even higher by news that Total had declared force majeure on its 240,000 b/d Dalia field offshore Angola, where a problem with a generator on Wednesday has halved production rates

•EIA reported a 500,000 barrel decline in crude stocks, while gasoline stocks were down by 2.3 million barrels, compared to an expected build of 1 million barrels. Distillate inventories fell 200,000 barrels, with refinery utilization up 0.8 percentage points.

Updated: July 19, 2007