Oil prices drop after three straight days of gains

NEW YORK, June 9 (UPI) -- The rally in crude oil prices lost steam Thursday as markets pulled back to assess short-term outages that may be driving some of the recent momentum.

The price for crude oil opened above the $50 per barrel mark Wednesday for the first time in nearly a year as strong consumer demand eats away at the glut of oil that helped drag markets lower since the middle of 2014.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration this week show commercial crude oil inventories in the country declined by 3.2 million barrels. An independent survey from industry group American Petroleum Institute found inventory levels declined by 3.6 million barrels.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Industry/2016/06/09/Oil-prices-drop-after-three-straight-days-of-gains/2931465478905/?nll=1