Oil prices edged down on Thursday after data showed that U.S. crude stockpiles went up last week and weakened OPEC’s efforts to tighten markets and boost prices.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, went down 0.5 percent, or 31 cents from its previous close, and traded at $65.20 per barrel. Brent dropped to its lowest for the year at $65.12 per barrel earlier in the session
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 0.5 percent, or 33 cents from its previous close, and was at $61.46 per barrel.
The dips followed larger falls from Wednesday, when crude reached one-month lows and wiped out much of 2018’s gains.
The biggest market was the U.S. crude production. U.S. crude oil output was in the average of 10 million barrels per day (bpd), the first time since the early 1970s last week, touching 10.25 million barrels per day.
Producing 10.25 million barrels per day, U.S. output is now higher than the previous 10.044 million barrels per day record from 1970.
Dragging the prices further, U.S. commercial crude stocks C-STK-T-EIA went up by 1.9 million barrels in the week to February 2, touching 420.25 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA) increased its 2018 average output forecast this week to 10.59 million barrels per day, up by a whopping 320,000 barrels per day from its previous forecast just a week earlier.