Oil prices, on Tuesday, June 20, steadied just above seven-month lows after news of surge in supply, a development that has thwarted attempts by OPEC and other producers to support the market through reduced output.
Benchmark Brent was up 15 cents at $47.06 by 0820 GMT. On Monday, it fell 46 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $46.91 a barrel.
That was its lowest close since Nov. 29, the day before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from January.
U.S. crude oil was 15 cents higher at $44.35 a barrel. It fell 54 cents on Monday to $44.20, its lowest close since Nov. 14.
Both benchmarks are down by around 15 percent since late May, when OPEC, Russia and other producers extended their limits on production until the end of March 2018.
OPEC supplies jumped in May as output recovered in Libya and Nigeria, two countries exempt from the production reduction agreement.
Libya’s oil production rose more than 50,000 bpd to 885,000 bpd after the state oil company settled a dispute with Germany’s Wintershall, a Libyan source told Reuters. Nigerian oil supply is also rising, industry figures show.
Exports of Nigeria’s benchmark Bonny Light crude oil are set to reach 226,000 bpd in August, up from 164,000 bpd in July, loading programs show.
