WTI prints mild gains above $78.00, near $78.20 during Thursday’s Asian session on the hawkish hopes from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The black gold took a U-turn from the weekly high to snap a two-day uptrend the previous day after supply concerns escalated. Also adding to the upside filter was the weekly official oil inventories from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). It should be noted that the EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change rose to +1.017M versus -0.481M forecasts and -2.101M prior.