Mubasher: Oil prices extended its gaining run to Thursday's early trading after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed an unexpected decline in inventories.

US crude oil inventories declined by 1.2% or 6.2 million barrels in the week ended 16 September, while gasoline's shrank by 3.2 million barrels.

By 3:55am GMT, Brent crude futures were higher 42 cents, or 0.93%, to $45.76 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 41 cents, or 0.88%, to $47.24 a barrel.

The dollar index's decline gave a momentum to traders, namely after the US Federal Reserve decided to hold key interest rates at its meeting yesterday, said market analyst Ahmed Karm.

The US dollar index inched down 0.02% to 95.44 against a basket of currencies by 3:55am GMT.

The outlook for oil prices could be changed on the short-run ahead of the next OPEC meeting this month, Karm indicated, adding that oil prices are likely to target $48-50 per barrel in the upcoming sessions.