Oil prices steady as fears over supply tightness counter demand woes

Oil prices were stable on Wednesday with Brent crude futures up 0.1% to $76.38 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate futures up 0.2% to $71.85 a barrel. Despite a surprise cut in oil production on Sunday by Saudi Arabia of 1 million barrels per day (bpd), easing discrepancies in supply, growing concerns regarding slow global economic growth are putting a cap on prices. According to Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, the market is reluctant to take new positions due to mixed economic indicators for China and the United States. The US Energy Information Administration claims that US crude oil production for this year will rise faster; however, reducing US crude stocks also helped the oil market on Tuesday.

Oil prices steady as fears over supply tightness counter demand woes
Oil prices were stable on Wednesday with Brent crude futures up 0.1% to $76.38 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate futures up 0.2% to $71.85 a barrel. Despite a surprise cut in oil production on Sunday by Saudi Arabia of 1 million barrels per day (bpd), easing discrepancies in supply, growing concerns regarding slow global economic growth are putting a cap on prices. According to Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, the market is reluctant to take new positions due to mixed economic indicators for China and the United States. The US Energy Information Administration claims that US crude oil production for this year will rise faster; however, reducing US crude stocks also helped the oil market on Tuesday.