Summary Oil prices were little changed Thursday as traders' worries about abundant global supplies.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices were little changed Thursday as traders worries about abundant global supplies returned to the fore a day after a rally fueled by bargain hunting from prior slumps.
The market had surged Wednesday after the US Department of Energy said the country s commercial crude stockpiles had increased less than expected last week, and some petroleum products supplies had declined.
In addition, the Federal Reserve gave an improved view of the US economy and clearly put December on the table for a possible interest rate hike.
But the market gains were driven in part by bargain hunting after the recent slide in prices, some analysts said.
For Carl Larry of Frost & Sullivan, there is a trend toward oil investment, with "hedge funds playing the oil rather than playing currencies. I think that s where the interest is coming."
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in December edged up 12 cents to $46.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The global benchmark for oil, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery, fell to $48.80 a barrel, a 25-cent drop from Wednesday s settlement.
Both futures contracts steadied after WTI added more than six percent and Brent nearly five percent on Wednesday.
"We see ongoing physical oversupply as the key fundamental issue, with the high level of Russian output reported today as one piece of the total," said Tim Evans of Citi Futures.
"OPEC production is the other major issue in our view, and it looks like Iraqi production continues above 4.0 million barrels per day, as part of that total," Evans said.
If Iranian sanctions are lifted, that would add to the OPEC total, he said, "sustaining the surplus throughout 2016, at least in the absence of a shift in OPEC policy."
