Oil prices stabilized on Thursday, boosted by an unexpected draw in U.S. gasoline inventories, although bloated crude supplies meant that fuel markets remained under pressure. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.27 per barrel at 0137 GMT, up 15 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up 14 cents at $52.48 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 869,000 barrels last week to 256.2 million barrels, versus analyst expectations for a 1.1 million-barrel gain. Traders said that this surprise increase in U.S. gasoline inventories had helped push up crude, though most added that fuel markets were still bloated and that this would likely prevent further big price rises. “We remain highly […]