oil prices continued to climb on thursday on day after posting their first gain in four sessions as traders continued to digest a sharp drop in us inventories which has helped to offset concerns about the impact of slowing global economic growth   west texas intermediate crude for september delivery cl1 cl00 gained 81 cents or 1 to 8858 a barrel on the new york mercantile exchange   october brent crude brnv22 brn00 the global benchmark climbed 128 or 13 at 9493 a barrel on ice futures europe   back on nymex september gasoline rbu22 rose 1 to 2963 a gallon while september heating oil hou22 was flat at 3572 oil prices rallied on wednesday after falling to their lowest level since january earlier in the week after the energy information administration on wednesday reported that us crude inventories fell by 71 million barrels for the week ended aug 12 the us supply data appear to be keeping prices elevated on thursday one analyst said “the surprising and substantial drawdown alongside record crude exports provided a boost just as the price was testing multimonth lows” said craig erlam senior market analyst at oanda “there are numerous factors at play right now and we may be seeing traders taking a more cautious approach considering how close a decision on the iran nuclear deal appears to be”