Oil prices settle mixed amid upbeat economic, inventory data

Crude oil futures prices had mixed performance on Thursday as fears of further monetary tightening were offset by supportive oil inventory data.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery inched up 1 cent, or 0.01 percent, to settle at 71.80 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery declined 13 cents, or 0.17 percent, to settle at 76.52 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Brisk private employment data and service sector indicators in the United States stoked fears of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.

U.S. service purchasing managers' index (PMI) increased to 53.9 in June, up from 50.3 in May and higher than forecast consensus of 50.8, according to data issued by the Institute for Supply Management on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. private sector added 497,000 payrolls in June, beating market forecast consensus of 235,000 and 267,000 in the previous month, according to data released by the ADP Research Institute.

"Oil prices are retreating in risk-averse trade today. The ADP report has clearly had a negative impact given it likely means we're facing another red-hot jobs report tomorrow and the prospect of higher rates for longer," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, a supplier of online multi-asset trading services.

The U.S. Department of Labor is slated to unveil non-farm payroll data and unemployment data on Friday morning.

However, weekly oil inventory data issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) bolstered oil prices.

WTI oil rebounded from session lows as traders focused on the EIA report, which showed that crude inventories declined 1.5 million barrels from the previous week, noted Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire.

Moreover, U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories decreased 2.5 million barrels and 1 million barrels last week, respectively.