Oil prices up slightly on US data

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose slightly yesterday after US crude inventories declined for the eighth straight week and US crude production increased only slightly.

Brent crude futures rose 19 cents to US$52.06 (RM222.80) a barrel by 1437 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at U$47.86, up 3 cents.

US crude inventories fell 3.3 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations for an decrease of 3.5 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell 503,000 barrels, the Energy Information Administration said.

“Oil inventories continue their downward trend despite a significant increase in crude oil imports this week,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, Texas.

Still, he said, the market is shrugging off the inventory draws, which are approaching 75 million barrels since March, plus another 15 million in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“It continues to wait to see more confirmation from around the world that inventories are indeed declining,” Lipow said.

Production from Libya’s Sharara oilfield, the conflict-riven country’s largest, has been seesawing. The field remained shut yesterday, two Libyan oil sources told Reuters. The field had restarted at least once on Tuesday amid conflicting reports about whether it had reopened.

“(The) flood of news reports makes it clear that the situation in Libya is still chaotic and that conditions in the country are still far from normal,” Commerzbank analysts wrote.

Sharara recently reached output of 280,000 barrels per day, but closed this week due to a pipeline blockade. – Reuters