Oil falls on oversupply concerns

Oil prices fell early on Friday, as concerns about oversupply were offset by a sharp drop in U.S. fuel inventories.

Brent crude futures were down 30 cents, or 0.41 percent, at $72.26 a barrel by 0105 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.36 percent, at $68.45.

Brent is set to fall 2.2 percent for the week, while WTI is set to fall 2.7 percent, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, far exceeding analysts’ expectations for a 750,000-barrel increase.

Meanwhile, the EIA said gasoline stocks fell by 4.4 million barrels last week to their lowest since November 2022, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 600,000-barrel increase. The data also showed that distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, unexpectedly fell by 1.4 million barrels.