Crude Oil Prices Hold Steady, Output Concerns Persist

Investing.com – Crude oil prices held steady on Friday, as ongoing concerns over global output overshadowed upbeat demand predictions.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate April contract was steady at $61.20 a barrel by 04:30 a.m. ET (08:30 GMT).

Elsewhere, for May delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was little changed at $65.11 a barrel.

Oil prices weakened after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia forecast non-OPEC supply of around 1.60 million bpd for 2018, compared to 1.40 million bpd prior.

However, OPEC added that its efforts to cut supply continued to contribute to rebalancing the market.

OPEC agreed in December to cut oil output by 1.8 million bpd until the end of 2018. The agreement was due to end in March 2018, having already been extended once.

Oil prices were also under pressure since the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that crude oil inventories rose by in the week ended February 10, compared to expectations for a crude-stock build of 2.023 million barrels.

The concerns overshadowed by the International Energy Agency of an increase in global oil demand for the next year.

In its monthly report released on Thursday, the IEA increased its global demand growth outlook for 2018 by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.5 million bpd.

The Agency also noted that changes in trade policy could have a negative impact on oil production, with a slowdown most likely hitting maritime and trucking fuels.

Elsewhere, slipped 0.10% to $1.919 a gallon, while were little changed at $2.683 per million British thermal units.

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