The price of oil was close to almost losing 1 percent last Friday, regardless of an unexpectedly large draw in U.S. crude stockpiles. Prices were also pulled down by worries on brimming crude supplies.
Released figures are suggesting that crude stockpiles on the world’s major oil consumer, the United States, experienced an immediate drop on the previous week, same time when exports and refining rose. Inventories surpassed the expectations of analyst by falling more than 6.4 million barrels in the week until May 26 versus the forecasted 2.5 million.
Crude output in the nation advanced 9.35 million barrels per day in the previous week, even though a drop in crude stockpiles is perceived as a supportive factor for the price of oil. Growing production will somehow waste the attempts of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members to curb output.
Looking at prices, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures edged down by 0.93 percent or 45 cents to finish at $47.91 per barrel and international benchmark was 0.77 percent lower or 39 cents at $50.25 per barrel.
OPEC along with non-members met in Vienna last week to talk about the output reduction agreement, which will cut as much as 1.8 million barrels per day until the end of 2018’s first quarter. According to reliable sources, the oil cartel also met last week regarding the extension of the cuts by 1 percent to 1.5 percent.
Oil output in Libya grew by 827,000 bpd subsequently when the technical problems were fixed at the Sharara field, higher than the three year peak of 800,000 it notched earlier last month.