Oil extends losses after surprise increase in US stocks

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

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.

Crude exports fell by 506,000 barrels per day, the administration said.

Offering support for prices, oil output from Russia, Opec’s biggest non-member ally, averaged 11.3-million barrels per day so far in March, a source said, compared with 11.34-million barrels a day the previous month. 

Reuters