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London - World oil prices rebounded to 2016 highs for the third straight day on Thursday, buoyed by the weaker dollar and sliding US production, dealers said.
In late afternoon London trade, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery soared to $47.95 per barrel, while New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June jumped to $45.91.
Both high points were last witnessed in early November 2015.
"Crude oil continued to make headway thanks to a weaker dollar and improved supply fundamentals after a (US government) report showed US production fell for a seventh week to its lowest since October 2014," said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.
The struggling greenback makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies. That tends to stimulate demand and push oil prices higher.
Later on Thursday, Brent stood at $47.94, up 76 cents from Wednesday's closing level, while WTI gained 52 cents to $45.85.
The market had dipped in earlier deals as some investors opted to take profits following this week's strong run.
Prices surged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but appeared less concerned about global conditions, opening the door a crack to a rate hike in June.
Commercial crude stockpiles jumped by two million barrels in the week to April 22.
That was slightly more than analysts expected and took inventories to their highest level since October 1929 at 540.6 million barrels.
Rising US oil inventories tend to push prices lower because they add to the stubborn global supply glut and indicate weaker demand in the world's biggest crude-consuming nation.
However, US government data also showed that production dropped by 15 000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.94 million bpd last week.
"Any sign of production going down is a good sign," said Peter Lee, a Singapore-based analyst at BMI Research.
Prices have recovered from February lows that saw them hit levels not seen since 2003.
