US supply puts pressure on oil

Sydney — Oil prices inched lower on Thursday after solid gains the day before, pressured by data showing a smaller-than-expected decline in US crude stockpiles.

Front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 0.4% at $63.60 per barrel by 1.12am GMT. Brent closed up 2.3% on Wednesday

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.3% at $57.18 per barrel. WTI closed up 1.9% on Wednesday.

US crude inventories dropped by 1.1-million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. That compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 3-million barrels.

“The US oil market remains oversupplied,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst at Oanda.

But crude prices were underpinned after Opec and other producers such as Russia, a group known as Opec+, agreed on Tuesday to extend oil supply cuts until March 2020. 

Reuters

Source: businesslive.co.za