Investing.com – WTI crude oil prices settled sharply lower as traders continued to fret rising U.S. production while a stronger dollar added to downside momentum.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for April delivery fell 1.68% to settle at $60.12 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent fell 0.84% to trade at $63.80 a barrel.
Crude prices looked set for a second-straight weekly decline as negative sentiment on oil prices continued after the Energy Information Administration weekly crude totals Wednesday showing crude supplies rose less than expected failed to lift sentiment amid persistent rise in U.S. output.
Inventories of U.S. crude rose by 2.408 million barrels for the week ended March 2, below expectations for a 2.723 million barrels increased but that was offset by a rise in U.S. output to a record high per day of nearly 10.4 million barrels last week.
The dollar also played its part in keeping oil prices languishing at lows as the greenback rose sharply after the euro slumped on dovish ECB remarks.
Dollar-denominated assets such as oil are sensitive to moves in the dollar – a rise in the dollar tends to make oil more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus, reduces demand.
Upbeat comments from Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih suggesting that OPEC together with Russia could continue agreed production cuts after 2018 failed to stem losses in crude prices as investors continued to bet that with oil prices at $60 barrels, U.S. shale producers would add to oil output.
"When it’s time to lift, we will lift gradually’ Al-Falih said. “We adjust to the seasonality. If we lift the curbs in the first quarter, we will need to be conscious of refining maintenance season and lower demand. So we cannot lift all of the curbs and flood the market at a time when demand is less."
The oil cartel together with Russia agreed in November to extend the 1.8 million bpd output cuts through 2018, to rid the market of excess supplies.