Singapore — Oil prices fell on Wednesday, weighed down by ample supply despite output cuts by producer cartel Opec and looming US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran. Brent crude futures were at $78.23 a barrel at 4.45am GMT, down 20c, or 0.3%, from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $71.08 a barrel, down 23c, or 0.3%, from their last settlement. Despite the dips, both financial oil benchmarks remained close to their November 2014 highs of $79.47 and $71.92 a barrel respectively, reached the previous day. But there are signs in physical crude markets that may give pause to financial investors. There are also signs that oil production will rise, especially at majors like ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total. "Aggregate production — both actual and projected — is growing for the majors," S&P Global Ratings said in a report published on Tuesday. Spot crude oil cargo prices are at their steepest discounts to futures prices in...
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