Crude oil prices steady as Opec+ deal to raise output faces rising economic activity

NEW YORK: Oil prices steadied on Thursday, weighed down by an agreement from OPEC+ to ease record supply curbs but buoyed by tightening global inventories as economic activity picks up.

Brent crude fell 4 cents to $43.75 a barrel by 11:10 a.m. EDT (1510 GMT). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 11 cents to $41.09 a barrel.

Both benchmarks rose 2% on Wednesday following a sharp drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to scale back oil production cuts from August.

They will reduce their cuts to 7.7 million barrels per day through December from the 9.7 million bpd cuts in place since May.