Oil prices show slight drop after rise in US crude inventory

August 04, 2022: Oil prices retreated on Thursday after an unexpected rise in US crude inventories and in the aftermath of the OPEC+ decision to increase output for September.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $96.61 per barrel at 09.10 am local time (0610 GMT) for a 0.18% decrease after the previous session closed at $96.78 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $90.62 per barrel at the same time for a 0.04% drop after the previous session closed at $90.66 a barrel.

Signaling a weak demand outlook, data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 4.5 million barrels to 426.6 million barrels during the week ending July 29 against market expectations of a fall of 467,000 barrels.

The world's biggest oil producers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, known as OPEC+, agreed Wednesday to increase production by 100,000 barrels per day in September.

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