Oil prices held steady in Asian trading on Friday. The commodity initially fell on Thursday after OPEC ended its meeting with no agreement.

But prices rebounded on reports that US inventories declined last week.  US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose 16 cents to over 49 US dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery gained 32 cents to 50 dollars a barrel. Oil producers were positive about a price recovery at the Thursday meeting and markets took a breather as Saudi Arabia hinted it would not dramatically increase its output.