SINGAPORE: Oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed down by plentiful supplies despite an ongoing effort led by OPEC to cut production in order to tighten the market and prop up prices.
Brent crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.4 per cent, from their last close at $52 per barrel at 0148 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $48.88, down 19 cents, or 0.4 per cent. The downward correction partly reversed gains from the previous session when prices rose on the back of a drawdown in US crude inventories and a slight dip in American production.
The US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that crude inventories fell 1.8 million barrels for the week to May 12, to 520.8 million barrels.
However, the drawdown was smaller than expected, and many traders say there is still more oil in the system than the market can absorb.
“The fall in stockpiles undershot the expectation of a 2.36 million draw,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.
Overall oil supplies remain ample, with large amounts of crude from the United States and other producers being shipped to the big consumer regions in northern Asia, undermining Opec-led efforts to tighten the market.
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