Singapore — Oil prices held steady on Thursday following solid gains the previous day when falling US fuel inventories lifted the market. However, Brent crude oil prices remain below the key $50 a barrel mark on concern about high supply from producer club Opec despite a pledge to cut output in a bid to tighten the market. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $49.67 a barrel at 1.32am GMT, just 3c below their last settlement. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $47.08 a barrel, 4c below their last close. Prices jumped nearly 2% in the previous session on news of falling fuel stocks in the US. US crude inventories fell by 4.7-million barrels in the week to July 14 to 490.6-million barrels. That compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 3.2-million barrels. "Over the past 15 weeks, US oil inventories have fallen … 13 times, and in most cases, the falls were more pronounced than expected," said Fawad Razaqzada, market an...
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