FILE PHOTO: Pumpjacks are seen against the setting sun at the Daqing oil field in Heilongjiang province, China December 7, 2018. Picture taken December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
July 4, 2019
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil prices inched lower on Thursday after solid gains the day before, pressured by data showing a smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Front-month Brent crude futures <LCOc1>, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 0.4% at $63.60 per barrel by 0112 GMT. Brent closed up 2.3% on Wednesday
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures <CLc1> were down 0.3% at $57.18 per barrel. WTI closed up 1.9% on Wednesday.
U.S. crude inventories <USOILC=ECI> 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 U.S. oil market remains oversupplied,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst, OANDA.
But crude prices were underpinned after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers such as Russia, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Tuesday to extend oil supply cuts until March 2020.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Joseph Radford)
