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Oil prices fell a second day on Friday, extending losses after OPEC lowered its demand forecast and the International Energy Agency said the market was still over-supplied.
Brent crude fell 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 60.67 a barrel, at 0309 GMT, having dropped by half a percent in the previous session. U.S. crude fell 53 cents, or 0.9%, to $ 57.71 a barrel, after falling 0.8% on Thursday.
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Both benchmarks closed on Wednesday at their highest levels since January 2020, after a near-record series of consecutive daily gains.
Oil prices have soared in recent weeks as OPEC and other producers in the group known as OPEC + cut production, while Saudi Arabia also promised unilateral reductions in production that began this month.
“OPEC output is expected to decline this month, led by declines in Saudi Arabia and Libya. This should deepen the global market deficit and support prices,” said Capital Economics.
Before the falls, the U.S. relative strength index was at the most overbought level since the second Iraq war, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
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“There are some signs that the market is preparing for a downturn,” he said.
Oil demand worldwide in 2021 will recover more slowly than previously thought, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Previously, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the oil supply was still exceeding demand globally, although COVID-19 vaccines are expected to help recover demand.
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US oil stocks fell unexpectedly last week, decreasing 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 an increase of nearly 1 million barrels.
Even so, gasoline inventories increased more than expected, gaining 4.3 million barrels in the last week, against projections of an increase of 1.8 million.
Gasoline demand in the past four weeks is 10% below the same period last year.
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(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Christopher Cushing)