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Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.23 a barrel
by 1008 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined
44 cents, or 0.6%, to $76.20.
The IEA's monthly oil market report on Thursday said that global
oil demand is losing momentum, prompting the agency to trim its
2024 growth forecast to 1.22 million barrels per day (bpd) from
1.24 milion bpd.
On the supply side, the IEA estimated that supply will grow by
1.7 million bpd this year, up from its previous forecast of 1.5
million bpd.
Both oil benchmark contracts lost more than $1 a barrel on
Wednesday, pressured by the rise in U.S. crude inventories as
refining dropped to its lowest levels since December 2022.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. crude
inventories jumped by 12 million barrels to 439.5 million
barrels in the week to Feb. 9, far exceeding the rise of 2.6
milion barrels expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
"This uptick in inventories is attributed to a further decrease
in refinery operations and relatively softer demand for
petroleum products," said SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye.
Offsetting the larger than expected crude supplies, the EIA data
showed that gasoline and distillate stocks fell more than
forecast. Gasoline stocks dropped by 3.7 million barrels to
247.3 million barrels, compared with expectations of a 1.2
million barrel draw.
Distillate stockpiles declined by 1.9 million barrels to 125.7
million barrels, against expectations of a 1.6 million barrel
drop.
News that two major economies fell into recession also weighed
on prices.
Britain fell into recession in the second half of 2023 when
gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.3% in the three
months to December, having shrunk by 0.1% between July and
September, official data showed.
Japan unexpectedly slipped into recession at the end of last
year, surrendering its title as the world's third-biggest
economy to Germany.
(Reporting by Ahmad GhaddarAdditional reporting by Emily Chow
and Sudarshan VaradhanEditing by David Goodman)
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