Oil prices rise before ECB policy call

Oil prices rose Thursday as attention switched to a keenly-awaited monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank after the US Federal Reserve failed to announce any new measures. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September climbed 55 cents to $106.51 a barrel in London morning deals. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September, gained 28 cents to $89.19 a barrel. The market had already risen on Wednesday, boosted by a sharper than expected drop in US crude stockpiles that sparked hopes for stronger demand in the world's biggest oil-consuming country. The US Federal Reserve's decision the same day to keep monetary policy unchanged after a two-day meeting was widely expected but disappointed some investors who had hoped for additional economic stimulus. Ahead of the European Central Bank's own decsion on monetary policy due Thursday, crude prices were winning support by "positive economic data out of China, and on some tightening of US oil fundamentals", said Ernst and Young analyst Sanjeev Gupta. Data published Wednesday showed that US crude stockpiles fell 6.5 million barrels in the week ending July 27, instead of the much smaller drop of 800,000 barrels expected by analysts, indicating demand was holding up.