Brent steady near $60 as inventories fall in US

Oil steadied near $52 (Dh191) a barrel in New York, while Brent was flat above $60 amid signs that crude inventories fell again in the US, the world’s biggest consumer.

Futures slipped 0.3 cent after settling 3.2 cent higher on Tuesday.

US crude stockpiles fell by 560,000 barrels last week, an industry report was said to show, a smaller decline than that forecast in a Bloomberg survey before government data that was due yesterday.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said he was sure inventories would start to “return to normal averages and this will increase confidence” in the market.

Crude has stayed above $50 a barrel for a week, holding on to its advance this year after collapsing nearly 40 per cent last quarter.

The recent momentum has been spurred by improving trade relations between the US and China, as well as the start of the 1.2 million barrels a day of pledged output curbs by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers.

Still, prices remain more than 30 per cent below a fouryear high in early October.

“Production cuts by Opec+ together with lower prices will, in our view, be enough to balance the market, thus avoiding a strong rise in inventories,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, Oslobased chief commodities analyst at SEB AB.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery was at $51.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 17 cents, at 2.55pm UAE time. per per