Oil Prices Edge Higher Despite Rising U.S. Stockpiles, Production

Investing.com – Crude prices edged higher in early action on Thursday, shrugging off concerns over a rise in U.S. oil inventories and record weekly domestic production.

New York-traded tacked on 19 cents, or roughly 0.3%, to $68.12 a barrel by 4:00AM ET (0800GMT).

It , bouncing back from earlier weakness that was driven by data showing a larger-than-expected weekly climb in U.S. crude supplies.

U.S. oil inventories rose by in the week to April 27 to 436.0 million barrels, marking a 2018 high.

Domestic oil production also hit a fresh record of 10.62 million barrels per day (bpd), a jump of more than a quarter since mid-2016.

Only Russia currently produces more, at around 11 million bpd.

Analysts and traders have recently warned that booming U.S. shale oil production could potentially derail OPEC’s effort to end a supply glut.

Meanwhile, , the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., inched up 16 cents, or about 0.2%, to $73.52 a barrel.

The global benchmark dipped 10 cents in the last session, amid uncertainty about whether the U.S. will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

President Donald Trump has until May 12 to decide whether to pull the United States out of a 2015 international accord to curb Iran’s nuclear program and restore sanctions on one of the world’s biggest oil producers.

If sanctions are reinstated, that could contribute to tighter global oil inventories, as it would likely result in a reduction of Tehran’s oil exports.

Iran is a major Middle East oil producer and member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In other energy trading, rose around 0.4% to $2.079 a gallon, while gained 0.2% to $2.124 a gallon.

were a shade higher at $2.764 per million British thermal units, as traders looked ahead to weekly storage data due later in the global day amid expectations for an increase of .

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