Daily Times

Crude oil prices edged lower on Friday after going up for three consecutive days as the OPEC+ is set to slightly increase oil production from May 1.

At 1535 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, was trading at $67.31 a barrel after losing 1.85 percent. Likewise, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shed 2.23 percent to reach $63.56 a barrel. The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $64.53 a barrel with 0.97 percent increase, Arab Light was available at $67.25 a barrel with 2.55 percent increase while price of Russian Sokol increased 2.32 percent to reach $67.01 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories are within the five-year average for the season—for the first time in months—and that middle distillate inventories were down by a sizeable 3.3 million barrels last week.

Middle distillates, mainly diesel, have been a headache for refiners during the pandemic as inventories reached excessive levels due to the slowdown in various activities involving freight transport. Now, businesses are returning to normal operation, according to the data, and demand for diesel is picking up.

It seems the latest fuel demand developments in the United States were enough to eclipse earlier worry about Indian fuel demand amid a resurgence of infections there.