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Oil prices struggled to find their footing in early Asian trade on Thursday after a weakening global demand outlook depressed the market in the last session.
Brent crude futures dropped 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $92.38 a barrel by 0310 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 21 cents at $87.06 a barrel, or 0.2 percent.
Both OPEC and the U.S. Energy Department have cut their demand outlooks.
OPEC+, the oil producer group comprising the OPEC plus allies including Russia, agreed steep oil production cuts earlier this month, curbing supply in an already tight market and drawing harsh criticism from U.S. President Joe Biden.
Biden pledged on Tuesday that “there will be consequences” for U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia after the Saudi-led group decided to cut its oil production target by 2 million barrels per day.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday the OPEC+ decision was purely economic and was taken unanimously by its member states.
“While the OPEC+ production cuts may provide somewhat of a floor for oil prices, upside may seem limited as economic conditions will run the risks of further moderation as a trade-off to further Fed’s tightening process,” said Jun Rong Yeap, market strategist at IG.
Oil demand will increase by 2.64 million barrels per day (bpd) or 2.7 percent in 2022, OPEC said in a monthly report on Wednesday, down 460,000 bpd from the previous forecast.
