Oil slips, but remains near June highs
Traders say price dips are largely due to profit-taking
SINGAPORE — Oil prices eased on Thursday but remained near June highs reached the previous session when they were buoyed by a fall in US crude inventories.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $49.54 a barrel at 1.36am GMT, down 29c or 0.6% from their last settlement.International Brent crude futures were down 30c, or 0.6%, at $51.56 a barrel.Traders said the price dips early on Thursday were largely a result of profit-taking following strong price rises the day before.Both contracts hit their highest levels since June on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles fell 3-million barrels last week to 499.74-million barrels, and as international oil markets prepared for a planned output cut by oil cartel Opec."Another week another surprise drawdown in crude inventories by the EIA.... Although crude in storage remains at record highs, this is the third week of unexpected drawdowns in a row," said Jeffrey Halley, sen...
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