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Oil prices fell a second day on Friday, widening losses after OPEC lowered its demand forecast and the International Energy Agency said the market was still oversupplied.
Brent crude fell 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 60.67 a barrel at 0309 GMT, after falling half a percent in the previous session. U.S. oil fell 53 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $ 57.71 a barrel, after falling 0.8 percent on Thursday.
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Both benchmarks closed on Wednesday at their highest levels since January 2020 after an almost record set-up of consecutive daily gains.
Oil prices have risen over the past few weeks as OPEC and other producers in the group known as OPEC + cut production, while Saudi Arabia also promised unilateral production cuts starting this month.
“OPEC production is likely to decline this month, led by declines in Saudi Arabia and Libya. It should deepen the world market deficit and support prices,” Capital Economics said.
Before the declines, the relative strength index of US crude oil was at the most overbought level since the second war in Iraq, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
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“There are some signs that the market wants a setback,” he said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said that global demand for oil will recover more slowly in 2021 than previously thought.
Previously, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that oil supplies worldwide were still exceeding demand, although COVID-19 vaccines were expected to help restore demand.
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US crude stocks fell unexpectedly last week, declining by more than 6 million barrels as refineries increased production to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Analysts in a Reuters poll predicted a rise of nearly 1 million barrels.
Yet petrol inventories rose more than expected, by 4.3 million barrels in the past week, compared to the forecast of a 1.8 million increase.
Demand for gasoline over the past four weeks is 10% lower than the same time last year.
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(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Christopher Cushing)