Oil prices have fallen after reports of an increase in US crude stocks and continuous higher output from OPEC producers despite the ongoing output-cut deal.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped by 21 cents to $48.63 per barrel from their last close, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 fell by 20 cents to $46.20, reported Reuters.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute reported that US crude stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels in the week ending 14 July to 497.2 million barrels.
In addition to the US, oil supplies remained high from OPEC, primarily due to the increase in production from member-states Nigeria and Libya, which are not part of cuts deal.
French bank BNP Paribas was quoted by the news agency as saying: "Production in Libya is currently reported at or above one million barrels per day, while August loading schedules for Nigeria have risen to just over two million barrels per day.”
OPEC and other producers agreed to cut production by nearly 1.8 million barrels a day up to March next year.
The production-cut deal started from the beginning of this year to prevent the oil prices from further deterioration.
A Saudi Arabian industry source told Reuters that the kingdom remains committed to rebalancing the market.
