Singapore — Oil prices held near three-year highs on Thursday, supported by a surprise drop in US production and lower crude inventories, although analysts increasingly warned of signs that fuel markets have overheated. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.53 a barrel at 1.44am GMT, 4c below their last settlement but still close to a December 2014 high of $63.67 a barrel reached the previous day. Brent crude futures were at $69.14 a barrel, 6c below their last finish. That was also close to the previous day’s high of $69.37 a barrel, which was the highest level since an intra-day spike in May 2015 and, before that, in December 2014. Oil markets have generally been supported by a production cut led by Opec and Russia that started in January last year and is set to last through 2018. More immediate price support came overnight from the US, where crude inventories fell by almost 5-million barrels in the week to January 5, to 419.5-million barrels. That is slightly...
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