Oil prices stayed steady on Friday with Brent poised for its first monthly gain this year, as a big drawdown in U.S. oil stocks outweighed concerns that fuel demand will be dented further by more interest rate rises.
Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 4 cents or 0.1% to stand at $74.54 as of 0631 GMT. The less-traded front month contract, which expires on Friday, was up 10 cents at $74.39.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell 5 cents or 0.1% to $69.81.
After settling marginally higher on Thursday, both benchmarks were on track to climb more than 2% for June. While it would be Brent's first monthly gain for 2023, it would mark a second for WTI after a gain in April.
Despite the probable monthly gain, on a quarterly basis, Brent looks set for a loss of about 6% while WTI appears headed for a decline of about 7%.
Markets are worried about tightening supply after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories dropped by 9.6 million barrels in the week ended June 23, far exceeding the 1.8-million-barrel draw analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.
Source : Reuters
