TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices fell the second day on Friday, extending losses after OPEC cut the forecast on demand and the International Energy Agency said there was still too much market.
Brent crude fell 34 cents, or 0.6% at $ 60.80 a barrel before 0102 GMT, after dropping half a percent the previous session. U.S. oil fell 36 cents, or 0.6% at $ 57.88 a barrel, after falling 0.8% Thursday.
Both criteria closed Wednesday at their highest levels since January 2020 after an almost unprecedented run of sustained daily gain.
Oil prices have risen in the past few weeks as OPEC and other producers in the group called OPEC + cut production, while Saudi Arabia also promised unilateral reductions in production that began the this month.
“There are some signs that the market is set to pull back,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
The U.S. crude relative strength index was at its highest level since World War II in Iraq, Yawger noted.
Worldwide oil demand in 2021 will recover more slowly than previously expected, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said.
Earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil supply was still surpassing global demand, although COVID-19 vaccines are expected to help demand to overcome.
U.S. crude investments fell unexpectedly last week, declining by more than 6 million barrels as refineries raised yields to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Energy Information Administration. [EIA/S]
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast an increase of nearly 1 million barrels.
However, gasoline deposits grew more than expected, gaining 4.3 million barrels last week, against forecasts of a 1.8 million increase.
Gasoline demand over the past four weeks is 10% lower than the same period last year.
Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Edited by Christopher Cushing