Oil edges lower amid persistent supply worries

Tokyo — Oil prices edged lower on Friday after strong gains the previous day, easing on persistent supply concerns as Russia increased production in July and Saudi Arabia cut the price of crude for its Asian customers.

Brent crude futures were down 17c, or 0.2% at $73.28 a barrel by 2.32am GMT, after rising 1.5% on Thursday.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was off by 2c at $68.94, after gaining nearly 2% in the previous session.

WTI is heading for a roughly flat week after four weekly falls, while Brent is on track to post a fourth week of declines in five, heading for a drop of 1.4%.

“Bulls are fighting a losing battle…. Brent oil may fall to $67 a barrel,” said Reuters technical commodities analyst Wang Tao.

Russian oil output rose by 150,000 barrels a day in July from a month earlier, surpassing the amount Moscow had said it would add following a meeting of global oil producers in Vienna in June, energy ministry data showed on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have increased production to help to compensate for an anticipated shortfall in Iranian crude supplies once planned US sanctions take effect later this year.

Oil cartel Opec and partners including Russia had earlier cut output to rebalance supply and demand.

Saudi Aramco cut its September price for its Arab Light grade for Asian customers by $0.70 a barrel versus August to a premium of $1.20 a barrel to the Oman/Dubai average, it said on Thursday.

Oil prices tanked earlier this week when the US government reported that US inventories rose 3.8-million barrels in the previous week, against expectations, but rose on Thursday on expectations the stockpile would soon decline again.

Reuters