NEW YORK: Oil traded slightly lower yesterday, after paring gains from early in the session, as a supply glut in top consumer the United States trumped worries about falling production from Libya.
Brent crude was at US$60.01 at 1504GMT, down 23 cents, while US crude fell 18 cents to US$55.64 in thin trade as many countries were still on Christmas holiday.
The market had come under pressure from Wednesday’s DOE report, which showed a 7.3 million-barrel rise in crude inventories to their highest December level on record.
Analysts had expected a seasonal decline.
“The numbers on Wednesday were really bearish, and it’s possible the market is still trying to digest them,” said Andrew Lebow of Jefferies in New York.
“Maybe the path of least resistance is down here, given that we’ve been in a long down trend.” Reuters