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Brent crude futures were trading 25 cents lower at $45.58
a barrel at 1214 GMT (0814 EDT), retreating from earlier gains.
U.S. crude futures were down 35 cents at $44.43 a barrel.
Iraq said its oil shipments from southern fields averaged 3.364
million barrels per day (bpd) in April, up from 3.286 million in
March.
Production from top exporter Saudi Arabia was 10.15 million bpd
in April, but sources said that it could soon return to a
near-record level of 10.5 million bpd.
Iran is also raising output after its emergence from Western
sanctions in January and has increased exports to almost 2
million bpd from a little more than 1 million bpd at the start
of the year.
Daily supply of North Sea Brent crude oil, which contributes to
the futures benchmark, will rise in June to its highest in four
months, up 17 percent from May, according to monthly loading
programs provided by trading sources.
"There are enough supply stories out there to slow or temper any
gains," Energy Aspects analyst Richard Mallinson said, though he
added that lower supply from the United States should support
prices in the longer term.
Demand worries are also back on the horizon, stoked by a 14th
straight months of decline in Chinese factory activity in April.
British manufacturing output, meanwhile, dropped to a three-year
low and euro zone growth was forecast to be slower than
previously expected this year.
U.S. production has dipped from a peak of about 9.6 million bpd
in June 2015 to less than 9 million bpd now, government data
shows.
That had helped to lift crude by nearly 70 percent from decade
lows hit early this year and analysts said that further sporadic
price falls are likely given the spike, including Brent crude's
biggest monthly gain in seven years last month.
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing
by Keith Weir)
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