SINGAPORE (APP) – Oil prices were mixed in Asia Thursday, retaining support from a surprisingly upbeat US supply report a day earlier, analysts said.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery gained six cents to $56.45 while Brent crude for June slipped 14 cents to $63.18 in afternoon trade.
On Wednesday WTI jumped $3.10 to $56.39, its highest closing price since December 23, while Brent crude for May shot up $1.89 to $60.32 on its last day of trading.
Analysts said prices were supported by the official US stockpiles report Wednesday. The Department of Energy (DoE) said crude inventories rose by 1.29 million barrels in the week to April 10, much lower than the surge expected by analysts.
Rises in US reserves are indicative of slack demand in the world’s top crude consumer.
“Compared to past weeks of over 10 million, this miniature increment hints at some changes in fundamentals,” said Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
The DoE also said US oil production fell by 20,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 9.38 million barrels per day, in the week ending April 10.
Analysts said the decline should help ease the global crude oversupply, which led to a collapse in rices of more than 50 percent between June and January.
