London — Oil prices slipped on Monday, pulled down by rising Russian production and the highest US drilling activity in more than three years but supported by concerns over future Iranian and Venezuelan output. Analysts expect higher US output to offset supply curbs by the oil cartel Opec, which have been in place for 18 months and have pushed up prices significantly over the last year. Benchmark Brent crude was down 15c at $76.31 a barrel by 9.15am GMT. US light crude was 10c lower at $65.64. The number of new rigs drilling for oil in the US rose by one last week to 862, its highest since March 2015, data from energy services firm Baker Hughes showed. That implies US crude output, already at a record high of 10.8-million barrels a day, will climb further. Russian news agency Interfax said on Saturday that Russia’s oil production had risen to 11.1-million barrels a day in early June, up from slightly below 11-million barrels a day for most of May, and well above its target output of...
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