Oil prices rose on Friday as both U.S. crude production and inventories declined, pointing towards a tightening market. Strong Chinese oil import data also supported crude prices, traders said. With the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) leading a production cut, analysts said that global oil markets were now broadly balanced after years of oversupply.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $50.94 per barrel at 0500 GMT, up 34 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last settlement. Brent was at $56.59, up 34 cents, or 0.6 percent. U.S. crude inventories dropped 2.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 6, to 462.22 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said late on Thursday.

Crude production slipped 81,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.48 million bpd.

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