09:00 AM EDT, 03/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices rose early on Thursday following two losing sessions on expectations global inventories will continue to wane through the second quarter on OPEC+ production cuts and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery was last seen up US$1.32 to US$82.67 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up US$1.33 to US$87.42.

OPEC's the Joint Monitoring Ministerial Committee will meet next week, though no change to production quotas is expected as OPEC+'s 2.2-million barrels per day of voluntary production cuts are likely to be in place until at least the end of June and could be further extended, though a decision is not expected until a June ministerial meeting.

"There is now a solid consensus that global oil inventories will deplete throughout the year as demand is at unprecedented levels and OPEC+ appears to stick with its self-imposed output constraints - at least until June," PVM Oil Associates noted.

Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries are supporting product prices, keeping gasoline futures near six-month highs as Russian exports are cut by the damage.

"We now count 5 refineries facing significant throughput disruptions, with our estimates for downed refining capacity rising to 13% of Russia's total. These attacks seem to be serving the twin purposes of partially denying the Russian frontlines diesel as well as reducing Russia's essential energy revenue to fund the war. Preliminary estimates already show aggregate Russian refinery runs in March down 650 kb/d y/y," Helima Croft, Head of Global Commodity Strategy and MENA Research at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.