Oil prices continued their downward trend on Thursday, pressured by substantial increases in U.S. fuel inventories, despite concerns about potential supply tightness from OPEC members and Russia.
By 2:55 pm AEDT (3:55 am GMT) Brent crude futures slipped by $0.07, or 0.1%, to $76.09 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures eased $0.11 or 0.2% to $73.21 per barrel.
Both benchmarks fell over 1% on Wednesday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed larger-than-anticipated builds in U.S. fuel stockpiles.
Gasoline inventories surged by 6.3 million barrels last week, reaching 237.7 million barrels - far exceeding analysts' forecasts of a 1.5 million-barrel increase. Distillate stocks also climbed sharply, rising by 6.1 million barrels to 128.9 million barrels.
In contrast, U.S. crude oil inventories declined by 959,000 barrels during the week.
Adding to supply concerns, a Reuters survey revealed that oil output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decreased in December. Maintenance work in the United Arab Emirates offset production gains in Nigeria and other member states, marking a reversal after two consecutive months of output increases.
