Crude oil futures edged higher Thursday as an unexpected decline in US crude inventories still overshadowed the market.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude oil futures for July delivery moved up 3 cents to end at 51.01 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, on London's International Petroleum Exchange, the July Brent crude-oil futures contract added 4 cents to 50.11 dollars per barrel.

Wednesday's report showed that US crude oil supplies fell 1.6 million barrels in the week ended May 20. Traders were uncomfortable with the unexpected drop, especially ahead of the summer driving season.

But an analyst said Wednesday rally was a blitz reaction to the US data, the market would soon resume to its downward movement.

The summer driving season, when gasoline demand peaked, would start with this weekend's Memorial Day holiday.

Source: Xinhua