Investing.com - Crude oil futures were higher in the early part of Thursday's European session, after the Federal Reserve left its asset-purchasing program unchanged, while Wednesday's U.S. inventories data continued to support.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD107.85 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.54%.
The October contract settled up 2.51% at USD108.07 per barrel on Wednesday.
Oil futures were likely to find support at USD105.35 a barrel, the low from September 16 and resistance at USD109.16 a barrel, the high from September 12.
The Fed refrained on Wednesday from reducing the USD85 billion pace of its monthly asset purchases and said the central bank must determine its policies based on "what’s needed for the economy," even if it surprises markets.
Speaking after the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy-setting meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Bernanke said he wanted to "wait a bit longer and to try to get confirming evidence" that the economy is showing signs of lasting improvement.
The Fed’s stimulus program is viewed by many investors as a key driver in boosting the price of commodities as it tends to depress the value of the dollar.
Oil prices also remained supported after the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday said U.S. crude oil stockpiles dropped by 4.4 million barrels in the week ending September 13 to the lowest level since March 2012, far more than the expected 1.2 million decline, after a 0.2 million barrel fall in the previous week.
Crude prices came under pressure earlier in the week, after the U.S. and Russia agreed over the weekend on terms to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons cache, and while the U.S. has reiterated that it will act of Syria fails to comply, energy markets concluded that conflict is becoming much less likely.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery rose 0.38% to trade at USD111.02 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD3.17 a barrel.
