Singapore — Oil prices were firm on Thursday, buoyed by a surprise decline in US crude inventories as well as ongoing supply cuts led by the Opec cartel, although a relentless rise in US oil output threatens to undermine efforts to tighten the market. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.20 a barrel at 4.08am GMT, up 3c from their previous settlement. Brent crude futures were at $69.44 a barrel, down 3c from their last close. Both benchmarks are hovering just below their highest since early February, having risen about 10% from March lows. Some support for crude futures came from currency markets, where the dollar fell as Federal Reserve officials stuck to their view of three rate increases for 2018, even as they delivered an expected quarter point rate hike. In oil markets, US crude inventories fell 2.6-million barrels in the week ended March 16, to 428.31-million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said late on Wednesday. Oil "had a big sessi...
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