Oil prices on Friday, February 17, took a downward path as high crude stocks surpassed output cuts of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC,
Brent crude futures were trading at $55.57 per barrel at 0945 GMT, 8 cents below their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 4 cents at $53.32 per barrel.
Both appeared on track for losses on the week, though prices had moved higher earlier in the session in response to news that producer group OPEC could extend an output cut aimed at reining in a global supply overhang.
The cartel and other producers, including Russia, plan to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of 2017, and estimates suggest compliance by OPEC is around 90 percent.
The cuts are aimed at curbing oversupply that has dogged markets since 2014. But inventories and supplies remain high, especially in the United States.
Brent and WTI have traded within a $5 per barrel price range this year, in what has become the longest and most range-bound period since a price slump began in mid-2014.
In the United States, rising output has helped push up crude and fuel stocks to record highs.
In Asia, oil flows into the region remain as high as they were before the production cuts, Thomson Reuters data shows, as exporters fight for market share.And there are also signs of faltering demand growth in core markets, China and India.
