|
Brent crude oil was up 60 cents at $46.86 a barrel by 1015 GMT.
U.S. crude was up 60 cents at $45.35.
"The oil market is oversupplied, OPEC production is on the rise
and we had a rather bearish weekly U.S. oil stats report," said
Tamas Varga at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Crude stocks in the United States fell less than expected last
week, while distillate inventories rose the most since January
and gasoline stocks unexpectedly increased, the Energy
Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
A bearish assessment of the oil market by the International
Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday also helped send both crude oil
benchmarks down more than 4 percent by the close of trading.
The IEA said a glut in the global oil market was persistent and
would put a lid on crude prices despite demand growth and
declines in non-OPEC production.
"We know the process of rebalancing is taking place now, but
there is still an overhang in oil and this will take time," said
Avtar Sandu, senior commodities manager at Phillip Futures.
Surging crude stocks have pushed floating storage to seven-year
highs, the IEA said.
The EIA report said crude inventories fell 2.5 million barrels
last week, less than a 3-million-barrel drop forecast in a
Reuters poll.
The report portrayed a traditionally busy summer driving season
beset with unusually low demand, when many had expected record
driving trips amid lower oil prices. Weak gasoline is putting
crude under pressure worldwide with Middle East grades in
particular hit by low Asian demand.
Technical analysts say crude markets may be poised for a bigger
move lower after three months of strength.
"The market moved up to $50 quite fast, so we might go down and
see whether there is anything below $40," Sandu at Phillip
Futures said.
Varga at PVM said a first target for Brent could be its 100-day
moving average at $44.84 a barrel, a level that could be reached
in the next week.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by
Dale Hudson and David Evans)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
