Oil prices have extended losses into a second straight session after an official data reported a rise in US crude stocks.
International Brent crude oil futures were down 20 cents at $67.63 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 23 cents at $59.18 per barrel, Reuters reported.
Oil prices came under pressure after US crude stocks witnessed an increase, although analysts pointed to support from efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-affiliated members such as Russia, known as OPEC+, to cut production and increase prices.
Recently, oil prices received support from sanctions imposed by the US on key producing countries Iran and Venezuela.
OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya was quoted by Reuters as saying: “Today’s fall does not derail the short-term bullish argument that both the OPEC+ production cuts and supply outages will outweigh the global growth concerns and rising U.S. production.”
Data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted an increase in US crude stocks last week by 2.8 million barrels. This is against analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.2 million barrels in crude stocks.
The EIA added that crude exports declined by 506,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Oil prices further gained some support as oil output from OPEC’s biggest non-member ally Russia, averaged 11.3 million barrels per day so far this month compared with 11.34 million barrels a day the previous month, according to a source.
