Oil prices climb, but Opec-led supply cuts not affecting US inventories yet
London — Oil prices climbed off four-month lows on Thursday, but the recovery was cautious with investors fretting that oil cartel Opec-led supply cuts were not yet reducing record US crude inventories. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, was trading at $50.84 a barrel by 9.15am GMT, up 20c on the day and rebounding from Wednesday’s slide to $49.71, its lowest level since November 30 when Opec announced plans to cut output. US light crude was up 20c at $48.24. Brent remains well below this year’s high above $58, hit shortly after January 1 when the deal between the Opec and non-Opec states to curb supplies by 1.8-million barrels per day came into effect. Global stockpiles have continued rising since then. On Wednesday, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed US inventories jumped by a bigger-than-expected 5-million barrels last week to 533.1-million. While Opec has broadly met its commitments to reduce output, non-Opec producers have yet to fully deli...
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