After US crude stocks rise, oil price slips

London — Oil prices were down on Thursday, extending losses into a second consecutive session following a surprise rise in US crude inventories.

International Brent crude oil futures were at $67.55 a barrel at 9.29am GMT, down 28 US cents from their last close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $59.21 per barrel, down 20c from their last settlement.

US crude inventories rose last week by 2.8-million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.2-million barrels, the US Energy Information Administration said. Demand concerns on the back of economic jitters linked to the US-Chinese trade war have also capped prices.

In a new development, China has made unprecedented proposals on a range of issues, including forced technology transfer, as the two sides work to end their protracted dispute.

Overall, bullish sentiment underpins the market, which has seen Brent rise almost 30% in 2019.

“Today’s fall does not derail the short-term bullish argument that both the Opec+ production cuts and supply outages will outweigh the global growth concerns and rising US production, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Oil prices have found support from efforts by Opec and nonaffiliated allies such as Russia, known as Opec+, to trim output as well as plummeting Venezuelan output.

On top of US sanctions, power cuts have crippled Venezuela’s oil industry.

The country’s main oil export port of Jose and four crude upgraders, needed to convert Venezuela’s heavy oil into exportable grades, have been halted since Monday, industry sources said.