London — Brent oil lingered below this week’s highs on Thursday, as optimism over oil cartel Opec’s commitment to controlling its output was partly offset by another rise in US inventories. The oil price touched $71 a barrel on Tuesday, near its high for the year, but has struggled to gain further traction since then, despite supportive comments from Opec. June Brent crude futures were down 11c at $68.65 a barrel by 9.11am GMT, while the May contract, which expires later on Thursday, was down 9c at $69.44. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.51 a barrel, up 13c from their last close. Oil has risen by 4% since January, on track for its third consecutive quarter of price increases and the longest stretch of quarterly gains since late 2010. "Right now, oil looks fragile," PetroMatrix strategist Olivier Jakob said. "The price action last week was pretty clear. The objective on that move was to take out the highs of 2018, but that’s not been done and the price acti...
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