Oil futures rose in early trading hours on Friday, with market participants awaiting rig count data from the United States as the cheering effect of inventory data continued.


The US West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded 0.70 percent higher at $47.42 per barrel as of 07:40 GMT, while the London based Brent contracts on the ICE Futures Exchange in London were up 0.27 percent to $51.17 a barrel.


On Thursday, benchmarks settled in green territory following a report from the US Energy Information Administration that shows crude reserves falling the most in eleven months.


The Energy Information Administration reported a 8.9 million barrels drop in the week ended August 11, beating expectations for a 3 million barrels drop.


However, gasoline reserves added 22,000 barrels, compared to a forecasted decline of 1.1 million barrels. Distillate products stockpiles rose by 702,000 barrels.


The agency also said weekly oil production moved to a two year peak of 9.502 million barrels per day, adding 79,000 bpd last week, boosting oversupply worries among investors.


Traders are concerned about OPEC’s inability to counteract the ongoing supply overhang. The oil cartel extended its output cuts agreement until March 2018, with a volume of reduction standing at 1.8 million barrels per day.


A recent report from the Paris based International Energy Agency said OPEC’s rate of compliance with the deal fell to 75 percent in July.