Crude oil prices decrease in early trade

6 Apr 2023 , 08:16 AM

Early on Thursday in Asian trading, oil prices decreased as a result of disappointing U.S. job vacancies data that suggested a potential slowdown in demand.

West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude fell 14 cents to $80.47 per barrel. Brent crude futures ended the day on Wednesday at $84.99 a barrel, up 5 cents or 0.1%.

After the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, announced voluntary production restrictions on Monday, prices increased by more than 6%.

However, the number of job opportunities in the United States in February fell to its lowest level in over two years, indicating a cooling of the labour market. The information neutralised the market’s response to earlier OPEC+ production cuts and the most recent decrease in U.S. crude and fuel stocks.

Supporting this, Saudi Arabia, the leading oil exporter in the world, has increased the cost of its flagship crude for Asian consumers for the third consecutive month.

According to government data, U.S. crude stockpiles decreased by 3.7 million barrels last week, which was nearly 1.5 million barrels higher than expected.

Stocks of petrol and distillate decreased by 4.1 million barrels and 3.6 million barrels, respectively, more than was anticipated.

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