Oil holding gains above $47.00 level

After seesawing between small gains and losses, WTI crude oil finally seems to have found some stability and is currently trading with marginal gains around $47.00/barrel mark. 

Wednesday's up-surge was supported by a surprise contraction in US crude stockpiles. EIA reported US oil inventories dropped by 2.7 million barrels last week. Adding to this, a broad based US Dollar sell-off after dovish FOMC meeting minutes extended additional support to dollar-denominated commodities - like oil.

However, further upside was capped on uncertainty surrounding a fresh agreement on production freeze after Iran seemed little interested in such a deal, which has been a key factor driving prices higher from sub-$40.00 mark touched in late July.

Focus now shifts to the US rigs count from oil driller Baker Hughes, later during NY trading session. Last week's report showed rise in the US oil rig counts for seventh-straight week, taking the total number to 396, the highest level since February 26. Any further rise would resurface worries of a global supply glut and is likely to weigh on the black gold.