TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell a second day on
Friday, extending losses after OPEC cut its demand forecast and
the International Energy Agency said the market was still
over-supplied.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 34 cents, or 0.6% at $60.80 a
barrel by 0102 GMT, having dropped half a percent the previous
session. U.S. oil CLc1 was down 36 cents, or 0.6% at $57.88 a
barrel, after falling by 0.8% on Thursday.
Both benchmarks closed on Wednesday at their highest levels
since January 2020 after a nearly record-setting run of
consecutive daily gains.
Oil prices have risen over the last few weeks as OPEC and
other producers in the group known as OPEC+ cut production,
while Saudi Arabia also promised unilateral reductions in output
that started this month.
"There are some signs that the market is setting up for a
pullback," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho
Securities.
U.S. crude's relative strength index was at the most
overbought level since the second Iraq war, Yawger noted.
Oil demand around the world in 2021 will recover more slowly
than earlier thought, the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) said. Previously, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil
supply was still outstripping demand globally, although COVID-19
vaccines are expected to help demand recover. U.S. crude inventories dropped unexpectedly last week,
declining by more than 6 million barrels as refiners increased
output to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Energy
Information Administration. EIA/S
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a rise of nearly 1
million barrels.
Still, gasoline inventories increased more than expected,
gaining by 4.3 million barrels in the last week, against
forecasts of a 1.8 million rise.
Gasoline demand over the last four weeks is 10% below the
same time last year.