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West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $56.30 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The WTI price recovers some lost ground as the crude oil inventories report shows a sharper decline than anticipated. Traders will take more cues from the US jobs data for December, which will be published later on Friday. 

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report, crude oil stockpiles in the US for the week ending January 2 fell by 3.831 million barrels, compared to a decline of 1.934 million barrels in the previous week. The market consensus estimated that stocks would rise by 1.1 million barrels. A larger-than-expected crude oil inventory draw indicates stronger demand and generally boosts the WTI price in the near term. 

Nonetheless, the upside for the black gold might be limited following US President Donald Trump's deal to import up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude. The US energy secretary stated that the Trump administration needs to control Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to stabilize that country's economy and rebuild its oil sector. U.S. forces ousted Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid on the capital, Caracas, on Saturday.

The US employment report for December will be in the spotlight later on Friday. The US economy is projected to see 60,000 job additions in December, while the Unemployment Rate is forecast to tick lower to 4.5% during the same period. Any signs of weakness in the US labor market could drag the US Dollar (USD) lower and support the USD-denominated commodity price. 

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