Oil Jumps 3% As Short-Covering Pushes US Crude Firmly Over $40

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 3 percent on Thursday, with U.S. crude advancing firmly above the $40-per-barrel mark on short-covering and after a modest stockpile drop at the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures.

It was a second straight day of gains for crude futures from April lows below $40, after Wednesday's 3 percent run-up powered by data showing a hefty U.S. gasoline inventory drawdown.

Market intelligence firm Genscape reported that stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S. crude futures fell 89,071 barrels during the week to Aug. 2, traders who saw the data said. The Genscape report came after U.S. government data on Wednesday showed a 1.1 million-barrel decline at Cushing in the week to July 29.

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