Oil fell amid speculation that an unexpected U.S. crude supply decline won’t be followed by additional drops.
Futures slipped 1.3
percent in New York after surging 5.2 percent Wednesday. Inventories
slid by 4.94 million barrels last week as imports fell, according to an
Energy Information Administration report. A meeting between OPEC members
and Russia is set to take place on April 17 in Doha to discuss freezing
oil production in a bid to stabilize the markets.
Prices have whipsawed
since Friday on speculation about whether an accord can be reached in
Doha. Saudi Arabia said it will only agree to a freeze if it’s joined by
other suppliers including Iran, while Kuwait said a deal can be done
without Iran’s support.
West Texas
Intermediate for May delivery fell 49 cents to settle at $37.26 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced $1.86 to
$37.75 on Wednesday, the biggest gain in three weeks.
Brent for June
settlement dropped 41 cents, or 1 percent, to $39.43 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The front-month contract’s
discount to the second-month slipped 6 cents at the end of the session,
the least since January. The global benchmark crude closed at a 94-cent
premium to WTI for June delivery.
Source: Bloomberg
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