The price of Brent crude oil dropped below $87 a barrel on Thursday amid expectations that the Federal Reserve may lift interest rates, putting pressure on the US dollar.
Reuters reported that Brent crude for December declined 65 cents to $86.47 a barrel, while US crude fell 70 cents to $81.50.
Both benchmarks increased yesterday after data revealed that US crude oil stockpiles increased less than expected last week. The news came as huge relief for a market that has been struggling with falling prices in recent weeks due to excess oil supply.
US crude inventories increased 2.1 million barrels last week, below analysts’ expectations of a 3.4 million barrel rise.
Oil prices have dropped about 25% since June forcing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to plan for a curb in production.
Libya is supporting a cut in production, while several OPEC members, including Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have all played down talks of any reduction in oil output.
OPEC secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri said on Wednesday that it was unlikely there will be a big change in the group’s oil output in 2015.
However, the better outlook for the US economy helped to limit losses in today’s oil prices.
Investors are now waiting on US gross domestic product data, which is scheduled to be revealed later today.
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