Record US production weighs on oil
US refineries head into the spring maintenance period, stoking fears that crude oil demand will be soft and stockpiles will continue to rise
London — Oil prices fell on Thursday, pulled down by record US crude production that led to a surge in inventories. Brent crude oil futures were at $71.57 per barrel at 8.37am GMT, 61 US cents below their last close. Brent is set for a weekly loss, which would break its longest string of weekly gains for a year. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 60c at $63 per barrel. US crude stockpiles last week rose to their highest since September 2017, jumping by 9.9-million barrels to 470.6-million barrels as production hit a record high of 12.3-million barrels per day (bpd), government data showed. "This comes as US refineries head into the spring maintenance period, stoking fears that crude oil demand will be soft and stockpiles will continue to rise," ANZ bank said. Outside the US, however, oil markets remained tight amid the political crisis in Venezuela, stricter US sanctions against Iran that allow no more exemptions from May, and as Opec continues to withhold supply. Om...
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