Oil stabilizes as investors evaluate supply and demand drivers

There was little change in oil prices in early Asian trading on Thursday, as investors assessed concerns about demand amid a slowdown in the global economy against an expected decline in supplies thanks to Saudi production cuts.

And by 0110 GMT, Brent crude futures fell one cent to $76.94 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose five cents to $72.58 a barrel.

The two benchmarks rose about 1 percent when settling on Wednesday, supported by Saudi Arabia’s plans to make large production cuts, but price gains remained limited due to high US fuel inventories and weak Chinese export data.

The latest data released by the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed US crude oil inventories fell last week, while distillate inventories grew.

The Energy Information Administration said that gasoline stocks rose by 2.7 million barrels during the week, which is more than analysts expected, an increase of 880 thousand barrels.

Distillate stocks increased by about 5.1 million barrels during the week, exceeding analysts’ expectations for a rise of 1.3 million barrels.

The larger-than-expected build in fuel inventories in the United States raised concerns about demand in the world’s largest oil consumer, especially as travel was expected to pick up more during the Memorial Day holiday.

Meanwhile, US crude inventories fell by 451 thousand barrels during the week, while analysts expected an increase of 1 million barrels.