Oil rises for 6th session, buoyed by US output decline

Thursday,   29-Jun-2017   09:16 AM (IST)

Crude oil rose for a sixth straight session on Thursday to its highest since June 19 on a decline in U.S. output, but ongoing worries about global oversupply continued to drag. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 had risen 28 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $44.01 per barrel by 0215 GMT, while benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 gained 28 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $47.59 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stocks rose 118,000 barrels last week, while weekly production declined 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.3 million bpd. That was the biggest decline in weekly output since July 2016. There was additional support stemming from a decline in U.S. gasoline inventories. Futures rose after the EIA report, even though data showed a build instead of the 2.6 million-barrel draw that analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.  Still, global supplies are ample despite output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producing countries of 1.8 million bpd since January. OPEC and the other producers, trying to reduce a crude glut, agreed in May to extend the supply cut through March 2018. But OPEC has exempted Nigeria and Libya from curbing output. OPEC delegates have said they will not rush to cut crude output further or end the exemptions, although a meeting in Russia next month is likely to consider further steps to support the market.