Oil loses more steam after OPEC reduced demand forecast | Reuters

Oil loses more steam after OPEC reduced demand forecast | Reuters

Oil prices dropped for a second day on Friday, pulling further back from a one-year high after OPEC again lowered its demand forecast and the International Energy Agency said the market was still over-supplied.

Brent crude was down 39 cents, or 0.6% at $60.75 a barrel by 0743 GMT, having dropped half a percent the previous session. U.S. oil was down 44 cents, or 0.8% at $57.80 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.

“OPEC production is likely to fall this month led by declines in Saudi Arabia and Libya. This should deepen the global market deficit and support prices,” said Capital Economics.