NEW YORK: Oil fell to its lowest in a month as ballooning US crude stockpiles and higher-than-expected Russian production offset worries about a supply squeeze.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell as much as 3.1% on Thursday, a day after the US government data showed American crude inventories soared to the highest level in two years, with production hitting a record. Russia, meanwhile, missed a target for production cuts in April, dampening the impact of its agreement with OPEC to prop up prices.
In Belarus, the arrival of clean Russian crude also showed last week’s contamination issues are heading toward a resolution.
