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Brent crude oil was down 30 cents at $52.12 a barrel by 0945 GMT
(5:45 a.m. ET). U.S. crude oil was 10 cents lower at $49.41.
Both benchmark crude contracts rose more than $1 a barrel on
Wednesday to their highest levels for two weeks, rebounding from
four-month lows. The futures contracts appeared to be searching
for a new trading range, brokers said.
"There is a significant chance that a short-to-medium-term
bottom has been found," said Tamas Varga, analyst at London
brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Oil production in Libya has fallen more than 250,000 barrels per
day (bpd) this week as output from its western oilfields of
Sharara and Wafa has been blocked by armed protesters.
The reduction in Libyan oil output has coincided with attempts
by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to
tighten supply to support prices.
A Reuters survey shows OPEC oil output has fallen for a third
straight month in March as members of the group aim to trim 1.2
million bpd during the first six months of this year under a
deal signed in November. [OPEC/O]
The Reuters survey found OPEC members have now complied with 95
percent of their commitments under the deal.
But OPEC is finding it hard to tighten the oil market because
inventories in many parts of the world are at or near record
highs.
U.S. crude stocks <USOILC=ECI> rose 867,000 barrels to a record
of nearly 534 million barrels last week, the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. [EIA/S]
Investors are waiting to see if OPEC decides to extend its
production curbs into the second half of the year and whether
adherence to the deal remains so high.
Other oil exporters outside OPEC, including Russia, have also
promised to cut production but so far those reductions have been
limited. Russia has promised to cut output by 300,000 bpd.
"It is highly unlikely Russia will achieve an absolute 300,000
bpd reduction during the tenure of the current agreement,"
Eurasia Group said in a research report.
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing
by Susan Thomas)
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