Oil turns positive

NEW YORK. Oil prices traded slightly higher yesterday, reversing course after a report suggested crude stockpiles at the US storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma fell in the latest week.

US stockpiles have been in the spotlight because they rose unexpectedly last week, stoking fears that the market is becoming oversupplied. Thursday’s data suggests last week’s increase might have been an anomaly, traders said.

Crude inventories at Cushing dropped 1,1 million barrels since Friday 27 July, traders said, citing a report issued by energy information provider Genscape. In the previous week, total US inventories rose 3,8 million barrels, while supplies at Cushing fell 1,3 million barrels.

“There’s an expectation that the build from this week will be gone next week,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Additionally, he said, US monthly figures for production fell in May, suggesting that output may be curbed later in the year, he said.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 32 cents at $72,71 a barrel by 10:37 a.m. EDT (1437 GMT), while U.S. crude CLc1 futures rose 60 cents to $68,26 a barrel.

Futures reversed course after trading lower on concerns about oversupply early in the session.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have increased production, as agreed at a meeting in June, to help to compensate for an anticipated shortfall in Iranian crude supplies once US sanctions come into force later this year.