Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC and other producers including Russia agreed to ease record supply curbs from August, though the drop was cushioned by tightening global inventories as economic activity picks up.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 35 cents, or 0.8%, to $43.44 a barrel by 0852 GMT.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 49 cents, or 1.2%, to $40.47 per barrel.
Both contracts rose 2% the previous day after a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories. [EIA/S]
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to scale back oil production cuts from August.
They will reduce their cuts to 7.7 million barrels per day through December from the 9.7 million bpd cuts in place since May.
“Things are getting back to normal on the oil market,” said Norbert Rücker, head of economics research at Julius Baer.
“The petro-nations announced the partial lifting of their production restrictions as oil demand rebounds and signs of an easing supply glut emerge… The economic recovery puts demand above supply.”